mATZONAX. ILX-USTRATZCW 

OF THB 

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

OP THE 

CHUBCR OF ENGLAND, 

Bein? ihe Subflance of ev'ery Thing Liturgical in Bishop Sparrcw, Mp. L'Es- 
TiiANOE, Dr Comber, Dr. i\h/H"i>^ and all foriuer Rituali-T", Commenta- 
K u -, or otliers, upon the sanie *-t»bjec« ; collertefl and reductd into one couun- 
Utd and rt^gu.ar Method, and iiiUrspersed ail along U'iih new UbservuUoQs, 

BY 

CHARLES WHEATLY, A. M. 

VICAR OF BRENT AND FURNEUX PELHAM, IN HERTFORDSHIRE. 

By Additions and Notes drawn from a comparison with Shepherd 

and other writers on the Liturgy, adapting this 

Edition to the present state of the 

PR0TE3TANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
AMERICA, 

WITHOUT ANY AL'lERAMON OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT, 




Osiendas Populo Ctremonias et RUium colendi. 
Exod. xviii. 20. Vulg". 



BOS I ON : 

R, P. & C, WILLIAMS, CORNHILL-SQUARE, 
Ao. 79, Wushmgton &ireet. 






DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit: 

District Clerk?s Office, 

BE it remembered, that on the sixteenth day of May, A. D. 1825, iti the fbrty-' 
ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, R P. & C. 
Williams of the said District, have deposited m this office the title of a book, the 
right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following:, to wit: 

" A Rational iJinsfration of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of Eng- 
land, being the substance of every tninjr 1 iturgical in Bishop Sparrow, Mr. L'Es- 
trange. Dr. Comber, Dr. Nichols, and all former Ritualists, Commentators or oth- 
ers, upon the same subject, collected and reduced into one continual and regular 
method, and interspersed all along with new observations. By Charles Wheatly, 
A. M. Vicar of Brent and Furneux Pelham, in Hertfordshire. Improved by addi- 
tions and notes drawn from a comparison with Shepherd and other writers on the 
Liturgy, adfipting this Edition to the present state of the Ptotestunt Episcopal Church 
in \merica; without any a teration of the original text. Ostendas Populo Cert' 
monias et Riiium colendi. Exod. xviii. 20. Vulg," 

In conformity to he Act of, the Congress of the United States, entitled "An 
Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the Conies of Maps, Charts, 
aud Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the time therein 
mentioned.;" and also to an Act entitled " An Act supplenientary to an Act, en- 
titled an Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, 
Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the time* 
therein mentioned ; and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, 
Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints. 

JOHN W. DAVIS, Cltrk of MasH, DistricL 



By Tran?,f 



PREFACE. 

The following Edition being printed from one of 
those which had received the Jiuthor^s last corrections, 
it is thought unnecessary to repeat here the former part 
of his Preface relating chiefly to the alterations which 
he had made in his former Editions, as they followed 
each other. The latter part ^ containing a studied de- 
fence of his opinions on an important suhject^is in jus- 
tice to the Author here preserved in his own words, 
as follows : . • 

And this I take to be the proper place to explain 
myself in relation to one passage particularly, which I 
know has been thought to need the greatest amend- 
ment, though I have let it stand without making any. 
And indeed an Explanation of it is so much the more 
needful, as it is not only judged to be indefensible in 
itself, but also to be inconsistent with what I have said 
in another part of the book. The passage 1 mean, is 
concerning the Absolution in the daily Morning and 
Evening Service, which I have asserted to be " an 
*•• actual Conveyance of Pardon, at the very instant of 
'' pronouncing it, to all that come within the terms 
" proposed,* And again, " that it is more than De- 
^' CLARATiVE, that it is truly Effective, insuring 
'' and conveying to the proper subjects thereof the very 
^' Absolution or Remission itself.f'^ This has been 
thought by some, from whose judgment I should be 
very unwilling to differ or recede, not only to carry the 
point higher than can be maintained ; but also to be 
irreconeileable with my own notions of Absolution, 
as I have described them upon the office for the Vi- 
sitation of the Sick, where they are thought to be more 
consistent with Scripture and Antiquity. I have there 
endeavoured to shew that " there is no standing au- 
^^ thority in the Ministers of the Gospel to pardon and 
^^ forgive Sins immediately and directly in relation to 

*Page 115. t Page 120. 

A 



ii THE PREFACE. 

^^ GoD^ and as to which the censure of the Church 
" had been in no wise concerned.*" And again, "that 
" no Absolution pronounced by the Church can cleanse 
" or do away our inward Guilt, or remit the eternal 
^' Penalties of Sin, which are declared to be due to 
'' it by the sentence of God : any farther than by 
" the Prayers which are appointed to accompany it, 
" and by the use of those Ordinances to which it 
" restores us, it may be a means, in the end, of ob- 
" taining our pardon from God himself, and For- 
^^ giv^eness of Sin as it relates to him.f These pas- 
sages, I acknowledge, as they are separated from their 
contexts, and opposed to one another, seem a little in- 
consistent and confusedly expressed : but if each of 
them are read in their proper places, and with that 
distinction of ideas which I had framed to myself when 
I writ them, I humbly presume they may be easily re- 
conciled, and both of them asserted with equal truth. 
I desire it may be remembered that in the latter 
place [ am speaking of a judicial and unconditional 
Absolution, pronounced by the Minister of an In- 
dictative Form, as of certain advantage to the person 
that receives it. By this I have supposed the Church 
never intends to cleanse or do away our inward Guilt, 
but only to exercise an external authority, founded 
upon the power of the keys ; which, though it may 
be absolute, as to the iniiicting and remitting the 
censures of the Church, I could not understand per- 
emtorily to determine the state of the Sinner in 
relation to God. And thus far I have the happiness 
to have the concurrence of good judges on my side ; 
so that it is only in what I assert on the Daily Abso- 
lution, that I have the misfortune not to be accounted 
so clear. But, with humble submission, I can see 
nothing there inconsistent with what 1 have said on 
the other. The Absolution I am speaking of is con- 
ditionaU pronounced by the Priest in a Declarative 
Form, and limited to such as truly repent, and iinfeign- 
edhj believe God's hohj Gospel This indeed 1 have 
* Page 451. t Page 452. 



THE PREFACE. iii 

asserted to be effective, and that it insures and conveys, 
to the proper subjects thereof, the very Absolution or 
Remission itself : but then I desire it may be remem- 
bered that I attribute the effect of it not to a judicial, 
but to a ministerial act in the person who pronounces 
it : but to such an act however as it is founded upon the 
general tenor of the Gos;:el, which supposes, if I mis- 
take not, that God always accompanies the Minslra- 
tions of the Priestj if there be no impediment on the 
part of the People. And therefore when the Priest, in 
the Name of God, so solemnly declares to a Congrega- 
tion that has been humbly confessing their Sins, and 
importuning the Remission of them, that God does ac- 
tually pardon all that truhj reyent and luifeignedly be- 
lieve ; why may not such of them as do repent and be- 
lieve, humbly presume that their Pardon is sealed as 
well as made known by such a declaration ? 

I am sure this notion gives no encouragement either 
of Presumption to the Penitent, or of Arrogance to the 
Priest : 1 have supposed that, to receive any benefit 
from the form, the person must come within the terms 
required : and such a one, though the form should have 
no effect, is allowed notwithstanding to be pardoned and 
absolved. And the Priest I have asserted to act only 
ministerially, as the instrument of Providence ; that he 
can neither withhold, or apply, the Absolution as he 
pleases, nor so much as know upon whom or upon how 
many it shall take effect ; but that he only pronounces 
what God commands, whilst God himself ratifies the 
declaration, and seals the pardon that he proclaims. 

It is true indeed, it does not appear by the ancient 
Liturgies, that the Primitive Christains had any such 
Absolution to be pronounced, as this is, to the Congre- 
gation in general. But yet, if they had Absolutions 
upon any occasion, and those Absolutions were sup- 
posed to procure a R.econcilement with God ; (neither 
of which, I presume, will be thought to want a proof;) 
I see no reason why they may not be usefully admitted 
(as they are with us) into the Daily and Ordinary Ser- 
vice of the Church. For allowing that the persons they 



iv THE PREFACE. 

were formerly used to, were such as had incurred Eccle- 
siastical Ceusure; yet it is confessed that the forms pro- 
nounced on those occasions immediately respected the 
Conscience of the Sinuerjand not the outward llegimeu 
of the Church; that they were instrumental to procure 
the Forgiveness of God, whilst the Ecclesiastical Bond 
was declared to he released by an additional ceremony 
of the Imposition of Hands. ^ If then Absolutions, even 
in the earliest ages, were thought to be instrumental to 
procure God's Forgiveness to such Sins as had deserved 
Ecclesiastical Bonds ; why may they not be allowed as 
instrumental and proper to procure his Forgiveness to 
Sins of daily Incursion, though they may not be gross 
enough, or at least enough public, to come within the 
cognizance of Ecclesiastical Censures ? If it be ur£;ed, 
that the ancient Absolutions were never Declarative, but 
either Intercessional, like the prayer that follows the 
Absolution in th • office appointed for the Visitation of 
the Sicky or Optative, like the form in our Office of 
Communion ; I think it may be answered that the Ef. 
feet of the Absolution does not at all depend upon the 
Form of it, since the Promises of God are either way 
applied, and it must be the Sinner's embracing them 
with Kepentance and Faith, that must make the Ap- 
plication of them effectual to himself. 

I hope this explanation will justify ray notions upon 
the Daily Absolution, as well as reconcile them with 
what I have said upon the other. I shall add nothing 
more in defence of them, than that they seem fully to 
be countenanced by the form itself, (as I have shewed 
at large upon the place,) and particularly by the inhi- 
bition of Deacons from pronouncing itf : which to me 
is an argument that our Church designed it for an Ef- 
fect which it was beyond the commission of a Deacon 
to convey. Not that I would draw an argument from 
the opinion of our Church, where that opinion seems 
repugnant to Scripture or Antiquity : but where it does 

* See Dr. Marshall's Penitential Discipline, pa,^e 93, <S.c. See also the forms 
of Absolution in his Appendix, Numb. 4, 5, 6, 7. 

t See Page 120, he. 



THE PREFACE. v 

not appear to be inconsistent with either, I think her 
decision should be allowed a due weight. Wherever I 
have found or suspected her to differ from one or the 
other, the Reader will observe I have not covered or 
disguised it ; but on the contrary perhaps have been too 
hasty and forward, and too unguarded in my remarks. 
But Truth was what I aimed at through my whole 
undertaking; which therefore 1 was resolved at any ha- 
zard to assert just as it appeared to me. It is not at all 
indeed unlikely that in so many points as the nature of 
Ibis work has led me to consider, some things may ap- 
pear as Truths to me, which others, who have better 
opportunities of inquiring into them, may find to be 
otherwise : and therefore 1 can only profess that I have 
not advanced any thing but what I have believed to be 
true ; and that if 1 am any where in an error, I shall be 
always open to conviction, let the person that attempts 
it be Adversary or Friend ; since if Truth can be at- 
tained to by any means at last, I shall not value from 
whom or from whence it proceeds : though I cannot 
but say, the satisfaction will be the greater if it appear 
on the side which our Church has espoused, notwith- 
standing the discovery may possibly demand some Re- 
tractions on my own part, which in such case I shall 
always be ready to make, and think it a happiness to 
find myself mistaken. 

In the mean while, I request that where I am al- 
lowed to be right, I may not meet with less favour, be- 
cause I have shewed myself fallible ; and particularly 
I would importune my Reverend Bretheren of the Cler- 
GY, (upon whose countenance the success of this work 
must depend,) that if the Rubrics especially have been 
any where cleared, and with proper arguments enforc- 
ed, they would join their assistance to make my endea- 
vours of some service to the CnuiiCH. for it w ill be but 
of very little use to have illustrated the rule, unless they 
also concur to make the practice more uniform. And 
indeed I would hope that a small importunity would be 
sufficient to prevail with them, when they see what dis- 
grace their compliances have brought both upon the 



vi THE PREFACE. 

Liturgy and themselves : since not only the Occasional 
Offices are now in several places prostituted to the ca- 
price of the people, to be used where, and when, and 
in what manner they please ; but even the Daily and 
Ordinary Service is more than the Clergy themselves 
know how to perform in any Church but their own, 
before they have been informed of the particular cus- 
tom of the place. 

But I would not presume to dictate to those from 
whom it would much better become me to learn : and 
therefore I shall only observe farther with regard to the 
Citations I have had occasion to make, that 1 have but 
very seldom set down any of them at large, because I 
was willing to avoid all unnecessary means of swelling 
the book. Besides, I considered, that though I should 
cite them ever so distinctly, yet those who understand 
not the Language they were written in, must take my 
word for the meaning of them at last : and those who 
are capable of reading the Originals, I supposed, would 
turn to the books themselves for any thing they should 
doubt of, how careful soever I should have been in 
transcribing them ; so that I thought it sufficient to be 
exact in my references, as to the Tome, and Page, and 
marginal letter, and then to insert a general Table of 
the Ecclesiastical Writers, which should once for all 
shew the Editions that I have used* The reason of my 
adding a column of the Times when the Writers 
flourished, was, that my less learned Reader might ga- 
ther from thence the Antiquity of several Rites and 
Ceremonies I had occasion to treat of, by consulting 
when those Authors lived, who are produced in defence 
of them. 

♦ If I have any wliere made iise of a diiFerent Edition, I iiave taken care 
to specify it in the citation itself. 



1 



AN 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS 

CITED IN THE FOLLOWING BOOK ; 

With the Times when they flourished, and the Edi- 
iions made use of. 



Ecclesiastical Writers' 



Alcuin 

Ambrose 

Arnobius 

Athanasius 

Athenagoras 

Augustin 

Basil the Great 

Bernard 

Cannons called Apostolical, ) 
most of them composed v 
before ) 

Cedrenus 

Chrysostom 

Clemens of Alexandria 

Clemens of Rome 

Codex Theodosianus 

Constitutions called Aposto- ) 
lical, about ) 

Cyprian 

Cyril of Jerusalem 

Dionysius of Alexandria 

Dionysius, falsely called the > 



. Flourished 
Anno Dom* 
780 



Books* 



Editions. 



Areopagite 
Durandus Mimatensis 
Durantus 
Epiphanius 
Euagrius Scholasticus 
Eusebius 

Gennadius Maseiliens, 
Gratian 

Gregory the Great 
Gregory Nazianzea 
Gregory Nyssen 
Hierom, or 
Jerom 
I^atius 



374 
303 
326 
177 
396 
370 
1115 

300 

1056 

398 

192 

65 

438 

450 

248 
350 
254 

362 

1286 

368 
594 
315 
495 
1131 
590 
370 
370 

378 

101 



De Offic. Divin. Paris 1610 

Opera Ed. Bened. Paris 1686 

Adv. Gentes Lugd. Bat. 1651 

Opera Ed. Benedict. Paris 1698 

Legatio by Dechair, Oxon. 1706 
Opera Ed. Benedict. Paris 1679 

Opera Paris 1638 

Opera Paris 1640 

by Coteler, Antwerp. 1698 

Histor. Compend. Paris 1649 

Opera Ed. Savil. Eton. 1612 

Opera Paris 1629 

Epi&tolse by Wotton, Cant. 1718 
Lugd. 1663 

by Coteler, Antwerp, 1698 

Opera by Fell, Oxon. 1682 

Opera by Mills, Oxon. 1703 

Epist. adv. Paul. Sam. Paris 1610 

Opera Paris 1615 

Rationale Lugd. 1612 

De Rit. Eccles. Cath. Rom. 1591 

Opera Paris 1622 

Eccles. Histor. Paris 1673 

Opera Paris 1659 

De Eccles. Dogmat. Hamb. 1614 

Opera Paris 1601 

Opera Paris 1675 

Opera Paris 1630 

Opera Paris 1615 

Opera Edit. Ben. Paris 1704 

Opera by Smith, Oxpn. 1709 



Vlll 



•fln Tndex of the Ecclesiastical Writers, 



Ecclesiastical Writers. 


Flourished 
Anno Doni. 


Books. 


Editions. 


Irenaeus 


167 


Adv. Haeres. by Grabe, 


Oxon. 1702 


Isidore Hispalensis 


595 


Opera 


Paris 1601 


Isidore Peleusiota 


412 


Opera 


Paris 1638 


Justin Martyr 


140 


< Apol. 1. by Grabe, 
i Opera 


Oxon. 1700 
Paris 1615 


Lactantius 


303 


Opera by Spark 


Oxon. 1684 


Micrologus 


1080 


De Eccles. Observ. 


Paris 1610 


Minucius Felix 


220 


Octavius by Davis, 


Cant. 1712 


Nicephorus Calistus 


1333 


Eccles. Histor. 


Paris 1630 


Optatus Milevitanus 


368 


Opera 


Paris 1679 


Origen 


230 


Opera Latine 


Paris 1604 


Paulinus 


420 


Lib. contr. Felic, 


Paris 1610 


Paulus Diaconus 


757 


Opera 


Paris 1611 


Polycarp 


108 


Ep. ad Phil, by Smith, 


Oxon. 1709 


Pontius Diaconus 


251 


( Vita S. Cypr. before St. Cy- 

i prian's Works, Oxon. 1682 


Proclus 


434 


De Trad. Div. Lit. 


Paris 1560 


Ruffinus 


390 


i In Symbolum at the end of 
i Saint Cyprian's Works. 


Socrates 


439 


Eccles. Histor. 


Paris 1668 


Sozomen 


440 


Eccles. Histor. 


Paris 1668 


Syneeius 


410 


Opera 


Paris 1631 


Tatian 


172 


Orat. ad Gr. by Worth, 


Oxon. 1700 


Tertullian 


192 


Opera by Rigaltius, 


Paris 1675 


Theodoret 


423 


Opera 


Paris 1642 


Theodosius Junior. See Codex 






Theodosianus. 








Theophilus Antiochent 


168 


Ad Autolyc. by Fell, 


Oxon 1684 


Theophylact. 


1077 


Commentarii 


Paris 1631 



COUNCILS. 



By Labbee and Cossart, in 15 Tomes. Paris 167i» 


Concil. Anno Dontnini. 


Concil. Anno Dommini. 


Agathense 506 


Neocaesariense 315 


Aurelianense 1. 511 


Nicenum I. Gen. 325 


Brachorense 1. 563 


Orleance 1. See Aurelianense 1. 


Calchutense 787 


Placentinum 1095 


Carthaginense 3. 252 


Quini-sextum in TruUo 692 


Carthaginense 4. 253 


Rhemense 2. 813 


Constantinop. 2. Gen. 381 


Sardicense 347 


Constant. 6. Gen. See Quini-sex. 


Toletanum 3. 589 


Eliberitanum 305 


Triburiense 895 


Gerundense 1. 517 


Trullan. See Quini-sextum. 


Laodicenum 367 


Vasense 1. 442 


Milevitan 1. 402 


Vasense 2. 529 



JIATIONAL ILLUSTRATION 



OF THE 



BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, &( 



AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, 

Shewing the Lawfulness and Necessity of a National pre- 
composed Liturgy. 



ItJIoST of the objections urged by the Dissenters 
against the Church of England, to justify their separation 
from it, being levelled against its form and manner of di- 
vine worship, prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer^ 
&€. are, in the following Discourse, answered, as fully as 
its brevity would permit. So that, though the principal 
design of this book be to instruct such as are friends to our 
Church and Liturgy ; yet it is not impossible but that, by 
the blessing of God, it may in some measure contribute to 
the undeceiving some that are enemies to both, (such I 
mean as are disaffected to the former, upon no other ac- 
count, than a prejudice to the latter ; ) especially could we, 
by first convincing them of the Lawfulness and Necessity 
of National precomposed Liturgies in general, prevail 
with them to take an impartial view of what is here offer- 
ed in behalf of our own. To this end therefore, and to 
make the following sheets of as general use as I can, 1 
shall, by way of Introduction, endeavour to prove 
these three things, viz. 

L First, That the ancient Jews, our Saviour, his Apos- 
tles, and the primitive Christians, never joined (as far as 
we can prove) in any prayers, but precomposed set forms 
only. 



Introdnct. 



2 The Lawfulness and Necessity of a 

Introd«ct. 11. Secondly, That those precomposed set forms, in 
' which they joined, were such as the respective congre- 

gations were accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted 
with. 

III. Thirdly, That their practice warrants the impo- 
sition of a JSIational precomposed Liturgy. 

1. First, lam to prove that the ancient Jews, our Sa- 
viour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, never 
joined (as far as we can prove) in any prayers, but pre- 
composed set forms only. And this I shall do by shewing, 

1 . First^ That they did join in precomposed set forms of 
prayer. 

2. Secondly, That (as far as we can conjecture) they 
never joined in any other. 

I. First, I shall shew that the ancient Jews, our Saviour, 
his Apostles, and the primitive Christains, Jzc/jow mjt?re- 
Gomposed set forms of prayer, 

\st, To begin with the Jews, we find that the first piece 
of solemn worship recorded in Scripture, is a hymn of 
praise, composed by Moses upon the deliverance of the 
children of Israel from the Egyptians, which was sung by 
all the congregation alternately ; by Moses and the men 
first, and afterwards by Miriam and the women ^ : which 
could not have been done, unless it had been a precom- 
posed set form. Again, in the expiation of an uncertain 
murder, the elders of the city which is next to the slain 
are expressly commanded to say, and consequently to join 
in saying, a form of prayer, precomposed by God himself^ . 
And in other places of Scripture^ we meet with several 
other forms of prayer precomposed by God, and prescribed 
by Moses ; which though they were not to be joined in 
by the whole congregation, are yet sufficient precedents 
for the use of precomposed set forms. But farther, the 
Scriptures assure us, that David appointed the Levites to 
stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and like- 
wise at even "*, which rule was observed in the temple after- 
wards built by Solomon, and restored at the building of 
the second temple after the captivity ^ Lastly, the whole 
book of Psalms were forms of prajer and praise, indited by 
the Holy Ghost, for the joint use of the congregation ; as 



1 Exotl. XV. 1, 20, 21. 36. Deiit. xxvi. 3,5,&c. ver.l3,&c. 

2 Dent. xxi. 7, 8. 4 1 Chron. xxiii.30. 

3 Numb. vi. 22, &;g. chap. x.35. 5. Neh. xii. 44, 45, 46. 



National precomposed Liturgy. 



appears as well from the titles of several of the Psalms ^ as introdm 
from other places of Scripture ^ 

Innumerable proofs might be brought, both ancient and 
modern, that the Jews did always worship God by pre- 
composed set forms : but the world is fully satisfied of this 
truth, from the concurrent testimonies of Josephus, Philo, 
Paul Fagius, Scaliger, Buxtorf, and Selden in Eutychium. 
The reader may consult two learned men of our own, vizo 
Dr. Hammond (who both proves that the Jews used set 
forms, and that their prayers and praises, &:c. were in the 
same order as our** Common Prayer) and Dr. Lightfoot, 
who not only asserts they worshipped God by stated forms, 
but also sets down both the order and method of their 
hymns and suppHcations ^ So that there is no more rea- 
son to doubt of their having and using a precomposed set- 
tled Liturgy, than of our own having and using the Book 
of Common Prayer, &c. and of its consisting of precom- 
posed set forms. We shall therefore proceed in the next 
place to inquire into the practice ot our Saviour, his Apo- 
stles, and the primitive Christians. 

And, 15^, for our Saviour; there is not the least doubt 
to be made, but that he continued always in communion 
with the Jewish Church, and was zealous and exemplary 
in their public devotions ; and consequently took all op- 
portunites of joining in those precomposed set forms of 
prayer, which were daily used in the Jewish congregations, 
as the learned Dr. Lightfoot has largely proved^°. And 
we may be sure, that had not our Saviour very canstantly 
attended their public worship, and joined in the devotions 
of their congregations, the Scribes and Pharisees, his bit- 
ter and implacable enemies, and great zealots for the tem- 
ple-service, would doubtless have cast it in his teeth, arid 
reproached him as an ungodly wretch, that despised prayer, 
&:c. But nothing of this nature do we find in the whole 
New Testament ; and therefore, had we no other grounds 
than these to go upon, we might safely conclude, that our 
blessed Saviour was a constant attendant on (he public ser- 
vice of the Jews, and consequently that he joined in pre- 
composed set forms of prayer. 

And, ^dly, as to the Apostles and our Lord's other Dis- 
ciples, their practice was doubtless the same till our Sa- 



6 See Psal. xlii. 44, &c. Psal.vi. 
5, 6, &c. Psal. xcii. 

7 1 Chron. xvi. 7. 2 Chron.xxix. 
30. Ezraiii. 10, 11. 

8 View of the Directory, p, 136. 



and his Oxford Papers, p. 260, vol.i, 

9 Dr. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. 
p. 922, 942, 946. 

10 Ibid. vol. ii. part ii. p. 1036, 



4 The Lawfulness and ^"eeessily of a 

Introduct. viours ascensioti ; after which (besides that they did pro- 
bably still join as before in the Jewish worship", which 
consisted of precomposed set forms) it is plain that they 
used precomposed set forms in their Christian assemblies, 
during the remainder of their lives. 

As the primitive Christians also did in the folloAving 
ages : as will appear, 

1. From their joining in the use of the Lord's prayer. 

2. From their joining in the use of Psalms. 

3. From their joining in the use of divers precomposed 
set forms of prayer, besides the Lord's prayer and Psalms. 

L They joined in the use of the Lord's prayer. And 
this is sufficiently evident from our Saviour's having com- 
manded them so to do ; for whatever dispute may be made 
about the word '^reag in St. Blatthcw vi. 9. which is trans- 
lated not exactly, but paraphrastically, after this manner^ 
but ought with greater accuracy to be rendered 50, or 
//iW5^^; yet if we should grant that our Lord in this place 
only proposed this prayer as a directory and pattern to 
make our other prayers by, we should still find afterwards, 
upon another occasion, viz. when his Disciples requested 
him to teach them to pray, as John had also taught his Dis- 
ciples, he prescribed the use of these very words : expresslj'" 
bidding them, JVhen ye pray, say, Our Father^^, I sup- 
pose nobody hath so mean an opinion, either of St* John's 
or our Saviour's Disciples, as to think they were ignorant 
how to pray: therefore it is plain they couW mean no- 
thing else by their request, but that Christ would give 
them this peculiar form, as a badge of their belonging to 
him ; according to the custom of the Jewish Doctors, who 
always taught their disciples a peculiar form to add to 
their own^"*; so that either our Saviour instructed them to 
use this very form of words, or else he did not answer the 
design of their requests. 

But it is objected, that " if our Lord had intended this 
" prayer should be used as a set form, he would not have 
*-* added the Doxology, when he delivered it at one lime, 
•■' as it is recorded in St. Matthew, and omit it, when he 
delivered it upon another occasion, as in St. Luke.'' 

11 See Acts iii. l.xiii. 15.xvii.2. xxiii. W. Isa. xxx. 12. xxxvii. 21, 

liii. 3. f^or in the former text, ira 

12 In which signification it is al- >Jyii 6 Kv^io(^ thus saith the Lord, 
ways used in the SeptuagintV^ersion bears the same signification as rah 
of the Bible, as appears by compar- xiyu Kv^wg^ this saith the Lord, 
ing Nurub. vi. 23. xxiii. 5. Isa.viii. in fhe latter. 

11. xxviii. 16. xxx. 15. xxxvii. 33. 13 Luke xi. 1, 2, &c. 

3pd some other places, with Numb. 14 Dr. Liglitfoot, vol. ii. p. 158. 



J^ational precomposed Liturgy, 5 

But to this we answer, That learned men are very much Introduct. 
divided in their opinions, concerning the Doxology in St. ~~ 

Matthew ; some thinking it is, and others thai, it is not, 
a part of the original text. Whether it be or be not, we 
need not here dispute, but argue with our adversaries upon 
either supposition. 

For, 1st, if they think it is 7iot a part of the original 
text, then their objection is groundless : for there is no- 
thing found in one Evangelist, but what is also found in 
the other; and the form, as to the sense of it, is exactly 
the same in both ; for though one or two expressions may 
differ, yet the Syriac words, in which we know our Lord 
deliverd it, are equally capalDle of both translations; 

But, ^dly, if they think the Doxology is a part of the 
original text ; we answer, The addition of it is as good an 
argument against the Lord's prayer being a directory for 
the matter of prayer, as it can be against its being an esta- 
blished set form of prayer. For we may say, in the lan- 
guage of our adversaries, if Christ had intended his prayer 
for a directory for the matter of prayer, he would not have 
given such different directions, ordering us to add a Doxo^ 
logy to the end of our prayers at one time, and omitting 
that order at another. If therefore the addition of the 
Doxologj^ be (as they must grant upon their own princi^ 
pies) no objection against its being a directory for the 
matter of prayer ; then certainly it is no objection 
against its being an established set form. For the differ- 
enceof our prayers will be every whit as great in following 
this pattern, by sometimes omitting and sometimes adding 
a Doxology at the end of our prayers, as it can possibly be, 
by using the Lord's prayer, sometimes with, and at other 
times without, the Doxology. The utmost therefore that 
can be concluded from the Doxology's being apart of the 
original text in St. Matthew, is this : That our Lord, 
though he commanded the use of the Lord's prayer, does 
not insist upon the use of the Doxologj^, but leaves it in- 
different ; or at most, orders it to be sometimes used, and 
sometimes omitted, as our established Church practises. 
But the other essential parts of the prayer are to be used 
notwithstanding ; it being very absurd to omit the use of 
the whole, because the latter part of it is not enjoined to 
be used constantly with the rest. 

But it is farther objected, Isi, That, " supposing our Sa- 
" viour did prescribe it as a form ; yet it was only /or a time, 
" till they should be more fully instructed, and enabled to 
" pr^ by the assistance of the Holy Ghost." And to urge 



6 The Lawfulness and Necessity of a 

latroduct. this with the greater force, they tell us, 2%, " That be- 
" fore Christ's ascension, the Disciples had asked nothing 
" inhis name^\ whereas they were taught, that after his 
" ascension they should offer up all their prayers in his 
" name^^ Now this prayer, say they, having nothing 
■" of his name in it, could not be designed to be used after 
•' his ascension." Accordingly they tell us, odly^ '' That 
"though we read in the Acts of the Apostles of several 
" prayers made by the Church, yet we find not any inti- 
*' mation, that they ever used this forni^^.'* 

Whatever resemblances of truth these objections may 
seem to carry with them at first sight, if we look narrowly 
into them, we shall find them to be grounded upon princi- 
ples as dangerous as false. 

For, I5/, If, because our Saviour hath not in express 
words commanded this form of prayer to be used for ever, 
we conclude, that it was only prescribed /or a hme ; we 
must necessarily allow, that whatever Christ hath insti- 
tuted without limitation of time does not always oblige; 
and, consequently, we may declare Christ's institutions to 
be null without his authority ; and at that rate cry down 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper for temporary prescriptions, 
as well as the Lord's prayer. 

In answer to the second objection, we may observe, 
that to pray in ChrisVs name, is to pray in his mediation ; 
depending upon his merits and intercession for the ac- 
ceptance of our prayers ; and therefore prayers may be 
offered up in Christ's name, though we do not name him. 
And as for the Lord's prayer, it is so framed, that it is 
impossible to offer it up, unless it be in the name of Christ : 
for we have no right or title to call God our Father, un- 
less it be through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ ; 
w^io hath made us heirs of God, and joint-heirs with hin> 
self And therefore Christ's not inserting his own name 
in his prayer, does by no means prove, that he did not 
design it for a standing form. 

And, 2>dly, as to the objection of the Scriptures not 
once intimating the use of this prayer, in those places 
where it speaks of others; we might answer, that we 
may as well conclude from the silence of the Scripture, 
that the Apostles did not baptize in the name of the Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, as that they did not use this 
prayer ; since they had as strict a command to do the one 

15 John xvi. 24. 17 Chap. i. 24. ii. 42. iv. 24. vi. 

16 John xiv. 13, and ch.xvi.23. 6. viii. 15. xii. 12. xiri. 3. xx. 36. 



National prtcomposed Liturgy. 1 

as the other. But besides, in all those places, except introduct. 
tvvo^^ there is nothing else mentioned, but that they 
prayed ; no mention at all of the words of their prayers ; 
and therefore there is no reason why we should expect a 
particular intimation of the Lord's prayer. And as for 
those prayers mentioned in the aforesaid places, 1 do not 
see how thej^can prove from thence, that they were offered 
up in the name of Christ. 

But, lastly, it is objected, that " the words of this 
" prayer are improper to be used now ; because therein 
" we pray that God's kingdom may come now, which came 
" many ages since, viz. at our Saviour's ascension into 
" heaven." 

But in answer to this, 1 thmk it sufficient to observe, 
that though the foundations of God's kingdom were laid 
then, yet it is not yet completed. For since we know 
that all the world must be converted to Christianity, and 
the Jews, Turks, and Infidels still make up the far greater 
part of it, w^e have as much reason upon this account to 
pray for the coming of God's kingdom now as ever. And 
if we consider those parts of the world which have already 
embraced Christianity, I cannot think it improper to pray, 
that they may sincerly practice what they believe ; which 
conduces much more to the advancement of God's king- 
dom, than a bare profession does without such practice. 

Since therefore, from what has been said, it appears 
that our Saviour prescribed the Lord's prayer as a stand- 
ing form, and commanded his Apostles and other Dis- 
ciples to use it as such ; it is not to be suspected, but that 
they observed this command ; especially since the ac- 
counts which we have from antiquity do (though the 
Scriptures be silent in the ntatter) fully prove it to have 
been their constant custom ; as appears by a numerous 
cloud of witnesses, who conspire in attesting this truth : 
of which I shall only instance in a few. 

And first, Tertullian was, without all doubt, of opinion 
that Christ delivered the Lord's prayer, not as a directory 
only, but as a precomposed set form, to be used by all 
Christians. For he says, " ^® The Son taught us to pray, 
*' Our Father, w^hich art in heaven ;" i. e. he taught us 
to use the Lord's prayer. And speaking of the same 
prayer, he says, " ^^ Our Lord gave his new Disciples of 
•' the New Testament a new form of prayer." He calls 

18 Acts i. 24. and chap, iv. 24. 20 De Orat. c. i, p. 129. A. 

19 Adv. Praxeara, c,23. p.51,4.A. 



8 The Lazifulness and Necessity of a 

Ijatroduct. it, « ^i^pj^g prayer appointed bj' Christ," and " ^afhe 
"' ' " prayer appointed by Law," (for so the word kgitima 

must be rendered,) and "the ordinary" {L e. the usual and 
customary) *' prayer, which is to be said before our other 
*• prayers ; and upon which, as a foundation, our other 
" prayers are to be built :" and tells us, that " ^^the use of 
*' it was ordained by our Saviour." 

Next, St. Cyprian^'* tells us, that " Christ himself gave 
" us a form of prayer, and commanded us to use it ; be- 
" cause, when we speak to the Father in the Son's words 
" we shall be more easily heard ;" and that " ^*there is no 
" prayer more spiritual or true than the Lord's prayer." 
And therefore he most earnestly^® exhorts men to the use 
of it as often as they pray. 

Agjain, St. Cyril of Jerusalem calls it, " ^^the prayer 
" which Christ gave his Disciples, and ^^which God hath 
«' taught us." 

About the same time Optatus takes it for granted thafr 
it is comfnanded^^ 

After him, St. Chrysostom calls it, " ^hhe prayer en- 
" joined by laws, and brought in by Christ." 

In the same century St. Austin tells us, " ^Hhat our 
" Saviour gave k to the Apostles, to the intent that they 
" should use it ; that he taught it his Disciples himself, 
" and by them he taught it us ; that he dictated it to us, 
" as a Lawyer would put words in his client's mouth ; 
" that it is necessary for all, L e. such as all were bound 
" to use ; and that we cannot be God's children, unless we 
" use it." 

Lastly, St. Gregory Nyssen says, " ^^tbat Christ shewed 
" his Disciples how they should pray, by the words of 
" the Lord's prayer." And Theodoret assures us, that 
'' ^^the Lord's prayer is a form of prayer, and that Christ 
" has commanded us to use it." But testimonies of this 
kind are numberless. 

If therefore the judgment of the ancient Fathers may 
be relied on, who knew the practice of the Apostles much 

21 De Orat. c. i. p. 129. A. 29 De Schism. Donatist.l.4.p.88. 

22 Ibid. c. ix. p. 133. B. 30 Horn. 11. in 2 Cor. torn. iii. 

23 Ibid. A. p. 553. lin. 21, 22. 

24 De Orat. Domin. p. 13?. 31 Ep. 157. torn. ii. col. 543. B. 

25 Ibid, et Serm. 58. torn. v. col. 337. D. E. 

26 Ibid. p. 139, 140. 32 De Orat. Domin. Orat. l.toni. 

27 Catech. Mystag. 5. 0.8. p.298. 1. p. 712. B. 

lio. 12. &c. 33 Haeret. Fabul. lib. 5. cap, 28 

28 Ibid. i. 15. 300. lin. 24. torn. iv. p. 316. B. 



National pncomposed Liturgy, 9 

better than we can pretend to do ; we may dare to affirm, Introduct. 
that the Apostles did certainly use the Lord's prayer: and 
if it be granted that they used it, we may reasonably sup- 
pose that they jomed in the use of it. For, besides that it 
is very improbable that a Christian assembly should, in 
their public devotions, omit that prayer which was the 
badge of their discipleship; the very petitions of the 
prayer, running all along in the plural number, do evi- 
dently shew, that it was primarily designed for the joiiat 
use of a congregjation. 

That the Ckristians of the first centuries used it in their 
assemblies, is evident from its being always used in the 
celebration of the Lord's supper^'*, which for some ages 
was performd every day^^. And St. Austin tells us in 
express words, that "■ ^^it was said at God's alter every 
" day." So that, without enlarging any more, I shall look 
upon it as sufficiently proved, that the Apostles and pri- 
mitive Christians did join in the use of the Lord's prayer; 
which is one plain argument that they joined in the use of 
precomposed set forms of prayer. Another argument I 
shall make use of to prove it, is, 

2. Their joining in the use of P slams. For we are told, 
that PauF'' and Silas, when they were in prison, prayed 
mid sang praises io God, And this we must suppose they 
did audibly, because the prisoners heard them, and conse- 
quently they would have disturbed each other, had they 
not united in the same prayers and praises. 

Again, St. Paul blames the Corinthians, because, when 
they came together, every one had a psalm, had a doctrine, 
&c.^^ Where we must not suppose that he forbad the 
use of psalms in public worship, any more than he did the 
use of doctrines, &c. but that he is displeased with them 
for not having the pslam all together, i. e, for not joining 
in it ; that so the whole congregation might attend one 
and the same part of divine service at the same time. 
From whence we may conclude, that the use of psalms 
was a customary thing, and that the Apostle approved of 
it ; only ordering them lo join in the use of them, which 
we may reasonably suppose they did for the future ; since 

34 Cyril. Hieros. (as before quo- 147. Basil. Epist. 289. tongi. iii. p 
ted in Note 27 and 28, page forego- 279. A. B. 

ing) Hieron. adv. Pelag. lib. 3.cap. 36 Serm. 58. cap. 10. torn. Y.cpl- 

5. torn. ii. p. 596. C. August. Epist. 342. F. 

149. torn. ii. col. 505. C. 37 Acts xvi. 25. 

35 Cyprian, de Orat. Dom. p. 38 1 Cor. siv. 26- 



10 The Lawfulness and Necessity of a 

lotioduct. we find by the Apostle's second Epistle to them, that they 

reformed their abuses. 

Thus also in his Epistle to the Ephesians^^, the Apostle 
exhorts them to speak to themselves with psalms, and hymns^ 
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in their 
hearts to the Lord. And he bids the Colossians'*° teach and 
admonish one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual 
songs, singing with grace in their hearts to the Lord. From 
ail which texts of Sciripture, and several others that might 
be alleged, we must necessarily conclude, that joint psal- 
mody was instituted by the Apostles, as a constant part of 
divine worship. 

And that the primitive Christians continued it, is a 
thing so notorious, that it seems wholly needless to cite 
any testimonies to prove it : I shall therefore only point to 
such places at the bottom of the page'*^, as will sufficiently 
satisfy any, that will think it worth their while to consult 
them. 

The practice therefore of the Apostles and primitive 
Christians, in joining in the use of psalms, is another in- 
timation, that they joined in the use of precomposed set 
forms of prayer. For though all psalms be not prayers, 
because some of them are not spoken to God ; yet it is 
certain a great part of them are, because they are immedi- 
ately directed to him ; as is evident, as well from the 
psalms of David, as from several christian hymns''^ : and, 
consequently, the Apostles and primitive Christians, by 
jointly singing such pSalms in their congregations, did 
join in the use of precomposed set forms of prayer. It 
only remains then that I prove, 

3. That they joined in the use of divers precomposed set 
forms of prayer, besides the Lord's prayer and psalms. 

And \st, as to the Apostles, we are told that Peter and 
John, after they had been threatened, and commanded 
not to preach the Gospel, went to their own company, and 
reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto 
them. And when they heard that, [they lift up their voice to 
God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God,^^ &c. 

39 Chap. V. 19. ad Marcellin. Epist. {.27. t. i. par.2. 

40 Col. iii. 16. p.999.B.— All these, and many oth- 

41 Plin. Epist. 1.10.Ep.97.p.284. ers, mention the Church''s using 
Oxon.l703.Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. 5. psalms in the public assemblies, as a 
C.28. p.l96. A. Just. Mart. Epist. ad practice that had universallyobtain- 
Zen.etSeren.p.509.A.Cyril.Hieros. ed from the times of the Apostles. 
Cate.13. 0.3. p. 180.1.9, &c. Catech. 42 As St. Ambrose's Te Deum, 
Mystag.S.f . 17.p. 300.1. 34,&c.Socr. and the like. 
Hist.Eccl.l.2.c.ll.p.89. A. Alliana. 43 Acts iv. 23, 24. 



Kaiional precomposed Liturgy. 



11 



Now in this place we arc told, that the whole company introduct. 
lift up their voice with one accord and said, (i. e. they joined -^— • 
ail together with audible voices in using these words,) 
Lord, thou art God, &LC. which they could not possibly 
have done, unless the prayer they used was a precomposed 
set form. For whatever may be said in favour of joining 
mentally, with a prayer conceived extempore ; 1 suppose 
nobody will contend, that it is possible for a considerable 
congregation to join vocally or aloud, as the Apostles and 
their company are here said to have done, in a prayer so 
conceived. 

But some may object, that " though it is affirmed, that 
** the whole company lift up their voice, and said the 
<* prayer here mentioned ; yet it is possible that one only 
" might do so in the name of all the rest, who joined 
" mentally with him, though not in an audible manner." 
To this we answer, That the Scripture never attributes that 
to a whole congregation or multitude, which is literally 
true of a single person only, except in such cases, where 
the thing related requires the consent of the whole multi- 
tude, but could not conveniently be performed or done 
by every one of them in their own persons. But I suppose 
no man will pretend, either that it was impossible for the 
Apostles and their company to lift up their voice, and say 
the prayers recited in the context, or that God could not 
hear or understand them when speaking all together. 

But that which piKs the matter out of all doubt, is the 
following consideration, viz. that the company is not 
barely said to have lift up their voice, but to have lift it 
up [o'^oOu^woicTo'v] with one accord, or all together ; which ad- 
verb is so placed, that it cannot be joined to any other 
verb than fp^v ; and nothing is more evident, than that 
this adverb implies and denotes a conjunction of persons ; 
and consequently, since it is here applied to all the com- 
pany, and particularly to that action of theirs, viz. their 
lifting up their voice ; it is manifest that they did all of 
them lift up their respective voices, and that they could 
not be said to have lift up their voices in that sense, which 
this objection supposes, viz. by appointing one person to 
lift up his single voice for them all. For if they did so, 
then the Historian's words must signify, that the whole 
congregation lift up their voice together, by appointing 
one man to lift up his particular voice in conjunction with 
himself alone : which is such nonsense, as cannot, without 
blasphemy, be imputed to an inspired Writer. So that it 



12 The Lawfulness and Necessity of a 

Ijitroduct. is undeniably plain, that the persons here said to have been 
" present, uttered their prayer all together, and spake all at 

the same time ; and consequently, that the prayer must 
be a precomposed set form. 

If any person should be so extravagant as to imagine, 
that '* the whole congregation was inspired at that very 
" instant with the same words ; and, consequently, that 
■* they might all of them break forth at once, and join 
'' vocally in the same prayer, though it were not precom- 
" posed ; " we need only reply, that this assertion is ut- 
terly groundless, having neither any shew of reason, nor 
so much as one example in all history to warrant it. 

But it may perhaps be objected, that " the Apostles 
" and their company could have no notice of this un- 
" foreseen accident; and therefore could not be prepared 
'^ with such a precomposed set form of thanksgiving ; 
'• and that it was uttered so soon after the relation of 
" what had befallen the Apostles, that if it had been 
" composed upon that occasion, it seems impossible that 
'' copies of it should have been delivered out for the 
'' company to be so far acquainted with it as immedi- 
" ately to join vocally in it." To which we answer, (I.) 
That since we have evidently proved, from their joining 
vocally in it, that it must have been a precomposed set 
form ; it lies upon our adversaries to answer our argu- 
ment, more than it does upon us to account for this diffi- 
culty : for a difficulty, though it could not be easily ac- 
counted for, is by no means sufficient to confront and 
overthrow a clear demonstration. But (2.) this ditficulty 
is not so great as it may at first appear : for there is no- 
thing in the whole prayer, but what might properly be 
used every day by a Christian congregation, so long as the 
powers of the world were opposing and threatening such 
as preached the Gospel, and the miraculous gifts of the 
Holy Ghost were continued in the Church : so that those 
who think this prayer to have been conceived and used on 
that emergency only, and never either before or after, do, 
in reality, beg the question, and take that for granted 
^ which they cannot prove. For the Scripture says nothing 

•like it, nor do the circumstances require it ; and therefore 
it is yery probable that it was a standing form, well 
known in the Church, and frequently used, as occasion 
oftered : and consequently, upon this occasion, (on which 
it is manifest it was highly seasonable and proper,) they 
immediately brake forth, and vocally uttered, and jointly 



National pncomjpostd Liturgy. 13 

said it, and perhaps added it to iheir other daily devo- introduct. 
tions, which, we may very well suppose, they used at the ^ 

same time, though the Historian takes no notice of it. 

There remains still another objection, which may possi- 
bly be made, viz. that " the holy Scriptures, when they 
" relate what was spoken, especially by a multitude, do 
'*• not always give us the very words that were spoken, 
'' but only the sense of them : and accordingly in this 
•' instance, perhaps the congregation did not jointly offer 
" up that very prayer, but when they had heard what 
" the Apostles told them, they mi^ht all break out at 
" one and the same time into vocal prayer, and every 
*' man utter words much to the same sense, though they 
" might not join in one and the same form." But to re- 
move this objection, we need only reflect upon the into- 
lerable confusion such a practice must of necessity cause : 
for that they all prayed vocally, has been evidently 
proved : if therefore they did not join in the same prayer, 
but offer up every man different words, though to the 
same sense ; it must necessarily follow, that the whole 
company would, instead of uniting in their devotions, in- 
terrupt and distract each other's prayers. 

How much more reasonable then is it to believe, that 
the Apostles and their company, who then prayed all to- 
gether vocally, upon so solemn an occasion, did really use 
the same prajer, and join in the same words? And if so, 
then the argument already offered is a demonstration that 
they joined in a precomposed set form of prayer, besides 
the Ijord's prayer and psalms. 

And that the primitive Christians did very early use 
precomposed set forms in their public worship, is evident 
from the names given to their public prayers ; for they are 
called the common prayers'^'^, constituted prayers*^, and so- 
lemn prayers'^^. But that which puts the matter out of 
all doubt, are the Liturgies ascribed to St. Peter, St. Mark, 
and St. James; which, though corrupted by later ages, 
are doutless of great antiquity. For besides many things 
which have a strong relish of that age, that of St. James 
was of great authority in the Church of Jerusalem in St. 
Cyril's time, who has a comment upon it still extant'*^ 

44 Kojvat£u;^a{'. Just.Mart.Apol.l. 46 Preces solennes. Cypr. De 

c. 85. p. 124. 1. 28. ^ Laps. p. 132. 

Ao 'Evxa-l 'a^tTTx^^ilffcti. OrigeD. 47 Catech. Mjst. 5. & P. 295. ad. 

cont. Cels. 1. 6. p, 312. Aug. Vin- n. 301. 
A%\* 1605. 



14 The Lawfulness and JiTtcessiiy of a 

iWoduct. which St. Jerom says was writ in his younger years* : 

and it is not probable that St. Cyril would have taken 

the pains to explain it, unless it had been of general use in 
the Church ; which we cannot suppose it could have ob- 
tained in less than seventy or eighty years. Now St. Cy- 
ril was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem either in the year 349, 
or 351 ; to which office, it is very well known, seldom 
any were promoted before they were pretty well in years. 
If therefore he writ his comment upon this Liturgy in his 
younger years, we cannot possibly date it later then the 
year 340; and then allowing the Liturgy to have ob- 
tained in the Church about eigiity years, it necessarily 
follows that it must have been composed in the year 260, 
which wa» not above 160 years after the apostolical age. 
It is declared by Proclus'*^ and the sixth general Coun- 
ciP, to be of St. James's own composing. And that there 
are forms of worship in it as ancient as the Apostles, seems 
highly probable ; for all the form, Sursum corda, is there, 
and in St. Cyril's comment. The same is in the Liturgies 
of Rome and Alexandria, and ia the Constitutions of Cle- 
mens,*^ which all agree are of great antiquity, though 
not so early as they pretend : and St. Cyprian, who was 
living within an hundred years after the Apostles, makes 
mention of it as a form then used and received*^, which 
Nicephorus does also of the Trisagium in particular". We 
do not deny but that these Liturgies may have been inter- 
polated in after times; but that no more overthrows the 
antiquity of the ground-work of them, than the large ad- 
ditions to a building prove there was no house before. It 
is an easy matter to say, that such Liturgies could not be 
St. James's or St. Mark's, because of such errors or mis- 
takes, and interpolations of things and phrases of later 
times. But what then ? Ts this an argument that there 
were no ancient Liturgies in the Churches of Jerusalem 
or Alexandria; when so long since as in Origen's time*\ 
we find an entire collect produced by him out of the Alex- 
andrian Liturgy ? And the like may be shewed as to other 
Churches which by degrees came to have their Liturgies 
much enlarged by the devout additions of some extraor- 

48 Catalog. Scriptor. Eccl. torn. 51 L. 8. c. 12. torn. i. p. 345. E. 
]. p. 317. num. 123. 52 De Orat. Domin, p. 152. 

49 De Trad. Div. Liturg. ap.Bo- 53 Hist. Eccles. 1. 18. c. 53.toni. 
nam. de Rebus Liturgicis, 1. 1. c.9. ii. p. 883. B. 

p. 157. 54 Orig. in Jerem. Horn. XIV. 

50 Can. 32. Concil. torn, vi.col. vol. i. p. 141. Edit. Huet. Rotho- 
1158. B. mag. 1668. 



J^ational prtcomposed Liturgy, 



15 



dinary men, who had the care of the several Churches imrodnct. 
afterwards : such as were St. Bazil, St. Chrysostom, and 
others. So that notwithstanding their imterpolations, the 
Liturgies themselves are a plain demonstration of the use- 
of divers precomposed set forms of prayer, besides the 
Lord's prayer and psalms, even in the first and second 
centuries. 

And, that in Constantine's time the Church used such 
precomposed set forms, is evident from Eusebius, who 
tells us of ConstantineV* composing a prayer for the use 
of his soldiers ; and in the next chapter*® gives us the 
words of the prayer; which makes it undeniably plain, 
that it was a set form of words. If it be said, that " Con- 
" stantine's composing a form is a plain evidence, that at 
" that time there were no public forms in the Church ;" 
we answer, that this form was only for his Heathen sol- 
diers ; for the story tells us*'', that he gave his Christian 
soldiers liberty to go to Church. And therefore all that 
can be gathered from hence is, that the Christian Church 
had no form of prayers for Heathen soldiers ; which is no 
great wonder, since if they had, it is very unlikely that 
they would have used it. But that the Church had forms 
of prayer is evident, because the same author calls the 
prayers which Constantine used in his court ('ExjcA»j(r«W 
©sou TpoVov, according to the manner of the Church*^ of 
God) iv')(jAg hU(rfjLovg, authorized piayers : which is the 
same title he gave to that form which he made for his 
Heathen soldiers*^. And therefore if by the authorized 
prayers, which he prescribed to the soldiers, he meant a 
form of prayer, as it is manifest he did ; then by the 
authorized prayers, which he used in his court, after the 
manner of the Church of God, he must mean a form of 
prayers also. And since he had a form of prayers in his 
court, after the manner of the Church, the Church, must 
necessarily have a form of prayers too. 

It is plain then, that the three first centuries joined in 
the use of divers precomposed set forms of prayer, besides 
the Lord's prayer and psalms ; after which, (besides the 
Liturgies of St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, and St. Ambrose,) 
we have also undeniable testimonies of the same*^ Gre- 



55 De vita Constant. 1. 4. c. 19. 
p. 355. B. 

56 De vita Constant. 1. 4. c. 20. 
p, 535. C. 

57 Ibid. c. 18. p. 534. D. 

58 Ibid. c. 17. p. 534. A, 



59 Ibid. c. 19, p. 535. B. 

60 See St. Chryso. Homil XVIII. 
in Ep. 2. ad Corinth. tom.iii,p.647. 
Concil. Carthag. 3. can. 23. torn, 
ii. col. 1170. De Concil. Mile v. 2. 
can. 12. torn. ii. col. 1540. E. 



16 Tht Lawfulness and Necessiiy of a 

Infroduct. govj Nazianzen says, that " St. Basil composed orders 
" and forms of prayer®^" And St. Basil himself, recit- 
ing the manner of the public service, that was used in the 
monastical oratories of his institution, says®^, that " no- 
" thing was therein done but what was consonant and 
" agreeable to all the Churches of God." The Council 
of Laodicea expressly provides^^ '' that the same Liturgy 
*' or form of prayer should be always used, both at the 
" ninth hour, and in the evening." And this canon is 
taken into the Collection of the canons of the Catholic 
Church ; which Collection was established in the fourth 
general Council of Chalcedon, in the year 451^*; by 
which establishment the whole Christian Church was 
obliged to the use of Liturgies, so far as the authority of 
a general Council extends. 

It were very easy to add many other proofs of the same 
kind, within the compass of time, to which those I have 
already produced do belong^*; but the brevity of my de- 
sign only allows me to mention such as are so obviously 
plain as to admit of no objections. To descend into the 
following ages, is not worth my while ; for the greatest 
enemies to precomposed set forms of prayer do acknow- 
ledge, that in the fourth and fifth centuries, and ever 
after, till the times of the Reformation, the joint use of 
them obtained all over the Christian world. And there- 
fore I shall take it for granted, that what has been already 
said is abundantly sufficient to prove, that the ancient 
Jews, our Saviour, his Apostles, and the primitive Chris- 
tians, did join in the use of precomposed set forms of 
prayer. I shall now proceed to prove, 

2. Secondly, That (as far as we can conjecture) they 
never joined in any other. And first, that the ancient 
Jews, our Saviour, and his Apostles, never joined in any 
other than precomposed set forms, before our Lord's re- 
surrection, may very well be concluded, from our having 
no ground to think they ever did. For as he that refuses 
to believe a matter of fact, when it is attested by a com- 
petent number of unexceptionable witnesses, is always 
thought to act against the dictates of reason ; so does that 
person act no less against the dictates of reason, who be- 
lieves a matter of fact without any ground. And what 

61 Orat. 20. in Basil. 756. B. 

62 Epist. 63. torn. ii. p. 843. D. 65 See Dr. Bennet's History of 

63 Can. 18. Concil. torn. i. col. the joint use of precomposed set 
1500. B. Forms of Prayer, from chap, viii.to 

64 Can. 1. Concil. torn. iv. col. chap. xvi. 



Ndlional pncompostd Liturgy, 



17 



ground can any man believe a matter of fact upon, but introduct. 
the testimony of those, upon whose veracity and judg- 
ment in the case he may safely rely ? But what testimo- 
nies can our adversaries produce in this case ? They can- 
not pretend to any proof (either express or by conse- 
quence) within this compass of time, of the joint use of 
prayers conceived extempore, because there is not the 
lowest degree of evidence, or so much as a bare probabil- 
ity of it. And therefore they ought of necessity to con- 
clude, that the ancient Jews, our Saviour, and his Apos- 
tles, never joined in any other prayers than precomposed 
set forms, before our Lord's resurrection. It only re- 
mains therefore that I show, that there is no reason to 
suppose that they ever joined in any others afterwards. 

And here as for our Saviour, we have no particular ac- 
count of his praying between the time of his resurrection 
and that of his ascension ; and therefore we can determine 
nothing of his joining therein. But as for the Apostles 
and primitive Christians, we may conclude, that they ne- 
ver joined in any other than precomposed set forms after 
our Lord's resurrection, by the same way of reasoning, as 
we concluded they never did before his resurrection. For 
unless our adversaries can bring sufficient authorities, to 
prove that they joined in the use of prayers conceived ex- 
tempore, we may very reasonably conclude they never 
did. 

I know indeed there are some objections, which our 
adversaries pick up from words of like sound, and, with- 
out considering the sense, or how ^he holy penmen used 
them, urge them for solid arguments ; but these my time 
will not permit me to examine, nor is it indeed worth 
my while. I shall only desire it may be considered, that 
nothing more betrays the badness of a cause, than when 
groundless suppositions are so zealously opposed to evi- 
dent truths66. 

I shall however mention one thing, which is of itself a 
strong argument, that the Apostles and primitive Chris- 
tians did never join in any other than precomposed set 
forms of pray er, viz. The difference between precomposed 
set forms of prayer, and prayers conceived extempore, is 



66 For farther satisfaction see Dr. 
Bennet's Discourse of the Gift of 
Prayer, and his History of the joint 



Use of precomposed set Forms of 
Prayer, chap, xviii. 



C 



1 8 Tht Lawfulness and Kccessiiy of a 

introduct. go vcrj great ; and the alteration from the joint use of 
the one, to the joint use of the other, so very remarkable ; 
that it is utterly impossible to conceive, that if the joint 
use of extempore prayers had been ever practised by the 
Apostles and first Christians, it could so soon have been 
laid aside by every church in the Christian vv^orld ; and 
yet not the least notice to be taken, no opposition to be 
made, nor so much as a hint given, either of the time 
or reasons of its being discontinued, by any of the an- 
cient writers whatsoever : but that every nation, that has 
embraced the Christian faith, should, with a perfect har^ 
mony, without one single exception (as far as the most di- 
ligent search and information can reach) from the Apo- 
stles' days to as low a period of time as our adversaries 
can desire, unite and agree in performing their joint wor- 
ship by the use of precomposed set forms only. Certainly 
such an unanimous practice of persons, at the greatest 
distance both of time and place, and not only different, 
but perfectly opposite, in other points of religion, as well 
as their civil interests, is, as I said, a strong argument, 
that the joint use of precomposed set forms was fixed by 
the Apostles in all the churches they planted, and that, by 
the special providence of God, it has been preserved as 
remarkably as thqpChristian Sacraments themselves. 

Much more might be added, but that I am satisfied, 
what has already been said is enough to convince any 
reasonable and unprejudiced person ; and to those that 
are obstinate and biased it is in vain to say more.. I shall 
therefore proceed to show, 

II, Secondly, that those precomposed set forms of 
prayer, in which they joined, were such as the respective 
congregations were accustomed to, and thoroughly ac- 
quainted with. And upon this I shall endeavour to be 
very brief, because a little reflection upon what has been 
said will effectually demonstrate its truth. 

And, 1st, as to the practice of the ancient Jews, our 
Saviour and his Disciples, it cannot be doubted, but that 
they were accustomed to, and well acquainted with those 
precomposed set forms, which are contained in the Scrip- 
tures : and as for their other additional prayers, the very 
same authors, from whom we derive our accounts of them, 
do unanimously agree in attesting, that they were of con- 
stant daily use ; and consequently the Jews, our Saviour, 
and his Diciples, could not but be accustomed to them, 
and thoroughly acquainted with them. 



J^atioiial precomposed Liturgy* la 

The matter therefore is past all dispute till the Gospel- l«trodu«t. 
state commenced ; and even then also it is equally clear 
and plain. For it has been largely showed, that the 
Apostles and primitive Christians did constantly use the 
Lord's prayer and psalms ; whereby they must neces- 
sarily become accustomed to them, and thoroughly ac- 
quainted with them. 

But then it is objected, that " their other prayers, 
" which made up a great part of their divine service, 
*' were not stinted imposed forms, but such as the min- 
" isters themselves composed and made choice of for 
" their own use in public.'' But this may likewise be 
answered with very little trouble ; because the same au- 
thorities, which prove that they were precomposed set 
forms, do also prove that the respective congregations 
were accustomed to them, and thoroughly acquainted 
with them. For since the whole congregation did with 
one accord lift up their voice in an instant, and vocally 
join in that prayer which is recorded in the fourth chap- 
ter of the Acts ; since the public prayers, which the pri- 
mitive Christians used in the first and second centuries, 
were called common pray trs, confitituted prayers^ and solemn 
praytrs ; since the Liturgy of St. James was of general use 
in the church of Jerusalem within an hundred and sixty 
years after the apostolical age ; since the ciiurch in Con- 
stantine's time used authorized set forms of prayer ; since 
the council of Laodicea expressly provides, that " the 
" same Liturgy be constantly used both at the ninth hour, 
" and in the evening ;" 1 say, since these things are true, 
we may appeal to our adversaries themselves, whether it 
was possible, in those and the like ca^>es, for the respective 
congregations to be otherwise than accustomed to, and 
thoroughly acquainted with, those precomposed set forms 
of prayer, in which they joned. 

We own indeed, that, by reason of the ancient Chris- 
tians industriously concealing their mysteries, copies of 
their office of joint devotion might not be common. 
And therefore (except the Lord's prayer, which the cate- 
chumens were taught before their baptism, and the 
psalms, which they read in their Bibles) none were ac- 
quainted with their joint devotions before they were bap- 
tized ; but were forced to learn them by constant attends 
ance upon them, and by the assistance of their brethren. 
But the forms, notwithstanding, were well known to the 



20 The Lawfulnsss and J^ecessily of a 

Introduct. main bodj of the congregation : and those very persons, 
who at first were strangers to them, did, as well as others, 
by frequenting the public assemblies, attain to a perfect 
knowledge of them ; because they were daily accustomed 
to them, and consequently, in a very short time, tho- 
roughly acquainted with them ; which was the second 
thing I was to prove. 1 come now in the last place to 
prove, 

111 Thirdly, That the practice of the ancient Jews, 
our Saviour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, 
%varrants the imposition of a national precomposed Li- 
turgy : and this I shall make appear in the following 
manner. 

1. Their practice proves that a precomposed Liturgy 
was constanly imposed upon the laity. For that, with- 
out joining in which it was impossible for the laity to 
hold church-communion, was certainly imposed upon 
the laity. Now their practice proves that it was impos- 
sible for the laity to hold communion with either the 
Jewish or Christian Church, unless they joined in a pre- 
composed Liturgy ; because the joint use of a precom- 
posed Liturgy was their particular way of worship : and 
consequently as many of the laity as held communion 
with them must submit to that way of worship ; and as 
many as submitted to that way of Avorship had a precom- 
posed Liturgy imposed upon them. 

2. Their practice shows that a precomposed Liturgy 
was imposed on the clergy, u e. the clergy were obliged 
to the use of a precomposed Liturgy in their public min- 
istrations. For since the use of such a Liturgy was set- 
tled amongst them, it was undoubtedly expected from the 
respective clergy, that they should practise accordingly. 
For any one, that is in the least versed in antiquity, must 
know how strict the church-governors were in those 
limes, and how severely they would animadvert upon 
such daring innovators, as should offer to set up their own 
fancies in opposition to a settled rule. So that it is no 
wonder, if in the first centuries we meet with no law to 
establish the use of Liturgies ; since those primitive pat- 
terns of obedience looked upon themselves to be as much 
obliged by the custom and practice of the church, as they 
could be by the strictest law.* But we find that afterwards, 

*The absence £)rany latr to establii^h the use of liturgies, strengthen 



Kaiional precomposed Liturgy, 21 

when the perverseness and innovations of the clergy gave 
occasion, the governors of the Church did, by making 
canons on purpose, oblige the clergy to the use of pre- 
composed Liturgies ; as may be seen in the eighteenth 
canon of the council of Laodicea : which, as I have 
showed, enjoined, that " the same Liturgy should be used 
" both at the ninth hour, and in the evening :" which is 
as plain an imposition of a precomposed Liturgy, as ever 
was or can be made. Thus also the second council of 
Mela enjoins, that " such prayers should be used by all, 
^' as were approved of in the council, and that none 
" should be said in the church, but such as had been ap- 
" proved of by the more prudent sort of persons in a sy- 
" nod :" which is another as plain imposition of a precom- 
posed Liturgy as words can express,even upon the clergy. 
But though neither clergy nor laity had been thus 
obliged, yet one would think that the practice of all the 
ancient Jews, our blessed Saviour himself, his Apostles, 
and the whole Christian world, for almost fifteen hundred 
years together, should be a sufficient precedent fer us to 
follow still. We may be sure, thai had they not known 
the joint use of Liturgies to have been the best way of 
worshipping God, they would never have practised it ; 
but since they did practise it, we ought in modesty to al- 
low their concurrent judgments to be too great to be 
withstood by any person or society of men ; and conse- 

the evidence in their favor ; because Tvhere any practice prevails 
universally, and do law can be produced, in which it originated, we 
are bound to consider it as common, or unwritten law, derived from 
the Apostles,the first founders of the Christian Church. '* As every new 
law," says Dr. Priestly, " is made to remove some incoovenience the 
state was subject to before the making of it, and for which no other 
method of redress was effectual, the law itself is a standing, and the 
most authentic, evidence we can require of the state of things previous 
to it." — Lect.on Hist. Sec. ix. If then there were a law to establish the 
use of a precomposed form of prayer, we should infer that previous to 
the existence of the law, a precomposed form had not been used ; and 
consequently that extempore worship had been practised. — If our Sa- 
viour had given an express injunction to pray, we should have inferred 
that prayer was not customary, or had fallen into disuse. But we find 
that he gave directions as to the mode of prayer, but not as to the duty 
in the abstract. As written precomposed forms of prayer v/ere in use in 
the Jewish church, the very absence of any directions from our Saviour 
on the subject of precomposed forms, shows that he did not change the 
practice. — Am. Ed. 

67 As before quoted in notes 60, 65. p. 15, 16. 



Jntroduct. 



22 The Lawfulness and J^tcessity of a 

latroduct. quently that their practice warrants the imposition of a 
precomposed Liturgy. 

And if of a precomposed Liturgy, it does for the same 
reason warrant the imposition of a national precomposed 
Liturgy : for it appears, from what has been said upon my 
second head, that the precomposed Liturgy of both 
Jews and Christians were such as the respective congre- 
gations were accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted 
with ; and therefore their practice warrants the impo- 
sition of such a precomposed Liturgy, and consequently of 
a national precomposed Liturgy. For upon supposition 
that it is expedient for the congregations to be accus- 
tomed to, and thoroughly acquainted with the Liturgies, 
which they join in use of; it is plain that a whole 
nation may as well have the same Liturgy, as each con- 
gregation may have a distinct one. And the clergy of a 
whole nation may as well resolve in a synod, or require 
by a canon made to that purpose, that the same Liturgy 
shall be used in every part of the nation, as leave it to 
ithe liberty of every particular bishop or minister to choose 
one for his own diocese or congregation.* Nor is such 
an imposition of a national precomposed Liturgy any 
greater grievance to the laity, than if each pastor imposed 
his own precomposed Liturgy or prayer conceived extem- 
pore on his respective flock ; because every precomposed 
Liturgy or extempore prayer is as much imposed, and 
lays as great a restraint upon the laity, as the imposition 
of a national Liturgy . Nor, again, is the the Synod's im- 
posing a national Liturgy any grievance to the clergy ; 
since it is either done by their proper governors alone, or 
else (especially according to our English constitution) by 
their proper governors, joined with iheir own representa- 
tives. So that such imposition, being either what they 
are bound to comply with in point of obedience, or else 
an act of their own choice, cannot for that reason be any 
hardship %ipon them. 

* It is well known that in the primitive church it was usual for the 
Bishop of the Diocese either to compose a Liturgy himself, or to adopt 
one composed by some other Bishop. In eithrr cases, it was his right 
and his duty to set forth a liturgy, for common use. — Now as the use of 
one liturgy produces greater unity than the U;^e of aany, the more ex- 
tensive the use of any one becomes, supposing it to be scriptural, the 
better. In the French Encyctopaidia, (Art. Liturgie^) the Liturgy of 
the Church of England is said to be superior to all other protestant lit- 
urgies ; and if so, it is very desirable that all protestants at least, should 
unite in the use of it, with^ruch modificatioHs as their politicid condition 
may demand. — Am. Ed. 



National precomposed Liturgy. 23 

Since therefore (to draw to a conclusion) this impo- Introduct. 

sition of a national precomposed Liturgy is warranted by ^ — 

the constant practice of all the ancient Jews, our Saviour 
himself, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians ; and 
since it is a grievance to neither clergy nor laity, but ap- 
pears quite, on the other hand, as well from their concur- 
rent testimonies, as by our own experience, to be so 
highly expedient, as that there can be no decent or uni- 
form performance of God's worship without it ; our ad- 
versaries themselves must allow it to be necessary.* 

* There is one advantage in the use of a liturgy which Wheatly has not 
mentioned, but which is concisely and forcibly stated by Dr. Buchanan, 
in his remarks on the Liturgy of the Syrian Church in India. " Here, " 
says he, ** as in all churches in a state of decline, there is too much for- 
mality in the worship. But they have the Bible and a Scriptural Liturgy ; 
and these will save a church in the worst of times. These may pre- 
serve the spark and life of religion, though the flame be out. And a» 
thefe were but few copies of the Bible among the Syrians, (for every copy 
was transcribed with the pen) it is highly probable, that if they had not 
enjoyed the advantage of the daily prayers, and daily portions of Scrip- 
ture in their Liturgy, there would have been in the revolution of ages, no 
vestige of Christianity left among them. — In a nation like ours, overflow- 
ing with knowledge, men- are not always in circumstances to perceive the 
value of a scriptural Liturgy. When Christians are well taught, they 
think they want sopiething better ; but the young and the ignorant, who 
form a great proportion of the community, are edified by a little plain 
instruction frequently repeated, A small church or sect may do with- 
out a form for a while ; but a national Liturgy is that which preserves a 
relic of the true faith among the people in a large empire, when the 
Priests leave their articles and their confessions op faith. Woe to 
the declining church which halh no Gospel Liturgy ! Witness the Pres- 
byterians in the West of England, and some other sects, who are said 
to have become Arians and Socinians to a man. The Puritans of a for- 
mer age did not live long enough to see the use of an evangelical form- 
ulary. By them, the experiment of a ^^wre Church devoid of form, was 
made under the most favorable circumstances ; and the issue has been 
much the same, as in former ages. The Puritan Church in England com- 
menced under the fairest auspices. I know not what was wanting of 
human and local circumstance, to give peculiar doctrines perpetuity ; 
but yet, with the first generation of men, (a case of frequent example) 
the spiritual fervor seemed to pass away. Instead of increasing, it de- 
creased and declined in most places, till little more than the name was 
left. For when the spirit is gone, (in a church having no form) nothing 
is left. In the mean time, primitive Christianity revived in England Cnot 
amongst them.) but in the midst of rational forms and evangelical arh- 
cles ; <- for so it seemed good unto God and from that source is derived 
the greater part of pure religion now professed in this land, under what- 
ever form it may exist."— Christian Researches, Boston, 1811, p. 158, 
and note. 

In America we hare felt the force of these remarks ; for there have been 
instances, in some of our new settlements, in which a knowledge of 
Christianity has been kept alive, and divine worship constantly celebra- 
ted, by means of the Bible and the prayer book, where people have not 
seen a clergyman for fifteen or twenty yean. — Am. Ed. 



24 



Of the Original of the 



Introduct. 



And if SO, they can no longer justify their separation 
from the Church of England, upon account of its in>pos- 
ing The Book of Common Prayer^ &,c. as a national pre- 
coniposed Liturgy ; unless they can show, that though 
national precomposed Liturgies in general may be law- 
ful ; yet there are some things precribed in that of the 
Church of England, which render it unlawful to be com- 
plied with : which that they cannot do, is, I hope, 
(though only occassionally, yet) sufficiently shown in the 
following illustration of it. From which I shall now de- 
tain the reader no longer than to give him some small ac- 
count of the original of The Book of Common Prayer^ and 
of those alterations which were afterwards made in it, be- 
fore it was brought to that perfection in which we now 
have it. And this I choose to do here, because I know 
not where more properly to insert such an account. 



How the 
Liturgy 
stood be- 
fore the 
Reforma- 
tion. 



What was 
done in re- 
lation to 
Liturgical 
matters in 
King Hen- 
ry viirs 

time. 



^^71 APPENDIX to the Introductory Discourse, concern- 
ing the Original of The Book of Common Prayer, 
and the several Alterations which were afterwards 
made in it. 

Before the Reformation, the Liturgy was only in 
Latin, being a collection of prayers made up partly of 
some ancient forms used in the primitive church, and 
partly of some others of a later original, accommodated 
to the superstitions which had by various means crept by 
degrees into the Church of Rome, and from thence deri- 
ved to other churches in communion with it ; like what we 
may see in the present Roman Breviary and Missal. And 
these things being established by the laws of the land, and 
the canons of the church, no other could publicly be made 
use of: so that those of the lait}^ who had not the advan- 
tage of a learned education, could not join with them, or be 
any otherwise edified by them. And besides, they being 
mixed with addresses to the Saints, adoration of the Host, 
Images, &c. a great part of the worship was in itself idola- 
trous and profane. 

But when the nation in King Henry YHPs time was 
disposed to a reformation, it was thought necessary to 
correct and amend these offices : and not only have the 
service of the church in the English or vulgar tongue, 
(that men might j^m^, not -with the spirit only, but with the 
understanding also ; and that he who occupied the room of 



Bdok of Common Prayer. 25 

ihe unlearned^ might understand that unto which he teas to Appendix 
isay Amen ; ag^ enable to the precnp: of St. Paul^^); but also i^troduct. 
to abolish and take away all that was idolatrous and super- - : 

stitious, in order to restore the service of the church to its 
primitive purity. For it was not the design of our Refor- 
mers (nor indeed ought it to have been) to introduce a 
hew form of worship into the church, but to correct and 
amend the old one ; and to purge it from those gross cor= 
ruptions which had gradually crept into it, and so to ren- 
der the divine service more agreeable to the Scriptures, 
and to the doctrine and practice of the primitive church 
in the best and purest ages of Christianity. In which 
reformation they proceeded gradually, according as 
they were able. 

And first, the ^^Convocation appointed a committee 
A. D. 1537, to compose a book, which was called. The 
godly and pious institution of a christen man ; containing a 
declaration of the Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria, the 
Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Seven Sacra- 
ments '*, &c.* which book was again published A. D. 
1540,1 and 1543, with corrections and alterations, under 
the title of A necessary doctrine and erudition for any 
christen man : and, as it is expressed in that preface, was 
set furlhe by the King, with th& advyse of his Clergy ; the 

68 1 Cor. xiv. 15, 16. Bishop At(erbiiry's Rights of an 

69 For what relates to the autho- English Convocation, itd edit, from 
rity of the Convocation, in this and p. 384 top. 205. 

the two following paragraphs, see 70 Strjpe'sMem.Cran.p.52— 54. 

* Collier ^says that the Institution wa? published in 1537; but was com- 
posed in Convocation three years before, as a directiQn for the Bishops 
and Clergy. Shepherd says, that it was compiled in 1537, by Abp. Cran- 
mer, Bp. Latimer and the Commissioners ; and afterwards revised by the 
King^ and ratified by Parliament. Neither of them cite any authorities ; 
and Shepherd only remarks, that Collier was probably mistaken. May 
not this diversity have grown out of the disputes on the rights aind power 
of an English convocation ? Am. Ed. 

t Wheatly rhentions this Edition of 1540, on the aiithority of Strype, 
in his life of Cranmer ; but Shepherd says that Strype's MS. mistated that 
year for 1543, which is evident from his Memorial vol. I. p. 378,'where !,e 
observes that the name Erudition was given to it in 1543, — The truiir 
appears to be this, that in 1540 the king- granted a commission, which was 
confirmed by ..ct of Parliament, to several Bishops and other divines to 
draw up an Exposition of such things as were necessary for the Institution 
of a Christian man. See vStrype's Mem. vol I. p. 356. These Com- 
missioners probably made the Institution of 1537 the basis of their new 
work ; which was reviewed in Convocation April 1543. and was publish- 
ed by Thomas Bertheletthe King's Printer, in May following, undtt the 
title of " A necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christen man,'' 
and was received by Parliament ths same year. — Am. Ed, 

D 



26 Of the Original of iht 

Appendix Lordes bolhe spirituall and temporally with the nether house 
Introduot rf P(^ii'liciinent^ having both sene and lyked it very well, 
' Also in the year 1540, a committee of Bishops and Di- 
vines was appointed by King Henry Vlll. (at the pe- 
tition of the Convocation) to reform the rituals and of- 
fices of the church. And what was done by this com- 
mittee for reforming the offices was re-considered by the 
Convocation itself two or three years afterwards, viz. in 
Febuary 1542-3. And in the next year the King and 
his Clergy ordered the prayers for processions, and lita- 
nies, to be put into English, and to be publicly used. 
And finally, in the year 1545, the King's Piimer came 
forth, wherein were contained, amongst other things, 
the Lord'^s Prayer, Creed, Teh Commandments, Venite, 
Te Deum, and other Hymns and Collects in English ; 
and several of them in the same version in which we now 
use them. And this is^all that appears to have been 
done in relation to liturgical matters in the reign of King 
Henry VIII. 
of Com°°^ In the year 1547, the first of King Edward VI. Decem- 
mott Prayer bcr the second, the ^^Convocation declared the opinion, 
compiled nullo reclamante^ that the Communion ought to be ad- 
of kIdT^" ministered to all persons under both kinds. Whereupon 
Edward an Act of Parliament was made, ordering the Commu- 
^^' nion to be so administered.* And then a committee of 
Bishops, and other learned Divines, was appointed to 
compose an uniform order of Communion, according to the 
rules of Scripture, and the use of the primitive Church, In 
order to this, the committee repaired to Windsor castle, 
and in that retirement, within a few days, drew up that 

Ti See Strype'a Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer, p. isr, 158. 

* Shepherd says the first parliament of Edward enacted^ that the Holy 
Communion should be received by the Laity in both kinds, and directed 
a new office to be composed for the purpose. This, with the royal pro- 
clamation prefixed, was published early in March 1547. On the 13th of 
the same month, copies were sent to the bishops to be circulated through 
their respective dioceses, " that the form might be understood by the cler- 
gy, explained to the people, and universally adopted at the approach- 
ing festival of Easter." The apparent contradiction between this ac- 
count and that by Wheatly, is easily reconciled. The year then began 
at the vernal equinox. The first parliament of Edward VI. sat from 
JVov. 4 till Dec. 24th, 1547, and the Convocation sat as usual at the 
same time. The communion book prepared during that session, was 
published early in March following, with the King's proclamation pre- 
fixed, dated March 8. On the 13th, that is, 8 days before the end of 
the year 1547, the privy council sent the communion book to the Bish- 
ops, that it miglit be used at Easter, which was the second or third Sun- 
day in 1548.....<5/n.jE(/. 



Book of Common Prayer* 27 

form which is printed in Bishop Sparrow's collection/^ Appendix 
And this being immediately brought into use the next , troduct 
year, the same persons being impowered by a new com- . ' 

mission, prepare themselves to enter upon a yet nobler 
work ; and in a few months time finished the whole lii- 
turgy, by drawing up public offices not only for Sundays, 
and Holidays, but for Baptism, Confirmation, Matri- 
mony, burial of the Dead, and other special occasions ; 
in which the forementioned office for the holy Com- 
munion was inserted, with many alterations and amend- 
ments. And the whole book being so framed, was set 
forth by the common agreement and full assent both of the 
Parliament and Convocations provincial ; i. e. the two Con- 
vocations of the provinces of Canterbury and York. 

The committee appointed to compose this Liturgy 
were, 

1. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury ; who 
was the chief promoter of our excellent Reformation ; and 
had a principal hand, not only in compiling the Liturgy, 
but in all the steps made towards it. lie died a martyr 
to the religion of the Reformation, which principally by 
his means had been established in theChurch of England ; 
being burnt at Oxford in the reign of Queen Mary, 
March 21, 1556. 

2. Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. 

3. Henry Holbech, alias Randes, Bishop of Lincoln, 

4. George Day, Bishop of Chichester, 

5. John Skip, Bishop of Hereford, 

6. Thomas Thirlby, Bishop of Westminster, 

7. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of Rochester, and afterwards 
of London. He was esteemed the ablest man of all that 
advanced the Reformation, for piety, learning, and solidity 
of judgment. He died a martyr in Queen Mary's reign, 
being burnt at Oxford, October \6, 1555, 

8. Dr. William May, Dean of St. Paul's, London, and 
afterwards also Master of Queen's College in Cambridge. 

9. Dr. John Tai//or,Dean, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. 
He was deprived in the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, 
and died soon after. 

10. Dr. Simon Heynes, Dean of Exeter. 

IL Dr. John Redmayne, Master of Trinity College in 
Cambridge, and Prebendary of Westminster. 

1 2. Dr. Richard Cox, Dean of Christ-Church in Oxford, 
Almoner and Privy-Counsellor to King Edward VI. He 

72 Page 17» 



28 Of the Original of the 

Appendix ^^s deprived of all his preferments in Queen Mary's reign, 
Introduct ^^^ ^^^ ^^ Frankfort ; from whence returning in the reign 

i of Queen Elizabeth, he was consecrated Bishop of Ely. 

13. Mr. Thomas Robertson, Archdeacon of Leicester.* 
And con- Thus was our excellent Liturgy compiled by Martyrs 
Act^of ^ ^"^ Confessors, together with divers other learned Bi- 
Parliament shops and Divines ; and being revised and approved by 
the Archbishops, Bishops, and Clergy of both the pro- 
vinces of Canterbury and York, was then confirmed by 
the King, and the three estates in Parliament, A. D. 
1548", who gave it this just encomium, viz. rvhich at 
this time BY THE AID OF THE HOLY GHOST, with 
uv.iform agreement is of them concluded, set forth, &,c. 
But after- gy|- about the end of the j^ear (550, or the beginning 
mu'ted^to' ^^ ^S."*!, sqme exceptions were taken at some things in 
the cen- this book, which were thought to savour too much of su^ 
sure of Bu- perstjtion. To remove these objections therefore, Arch- 
cer and ^^jstiop Cranmer proposed to review it : and to this end 
called in the assistance of Martin Bucer, and Peter Mar- 
tyr, two foreigners, whom he had invited over from the 
troubles in Germany ; who not understanding the Eng- 
lish tongue, had Latiii versions prepared for them : one 
Alesse, a Scotch Divine, translating it on purpose for the 
use of Bucer ; and Martyr being furnished with the ver- 
sion of Sir John Cheke, who had also formerly translated 
Upo^ it into ^'* Latin. What liberties ihis encouraged them to 
ceptlonTit ^^^^ ^" their censures of the first Liturgy, and how far 
was re- they were instrumental to the laying aside several very 
viewed and primitive and venerable usages, J shall have properer op- 
altered, portunities of shewing hereafter, when I come to treat 
of the particulars in the body of the book. It will be 
sufficient here just to note the most considerable additions 
and alterations that were then made : some * i which 
must be allowed to be good ; as especially the aodition of 
the sentences, exhortation, confession, and absolution, at the 
beginning of the morning and evening services, which ip 

73 Second and third of Edward VI. chap i. 

74 Strype's Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer, p. 210. 

• Shepherd fays, (hat this list is taken from Fuller, whose authority he 
thinks is questionable. Three of the Bishops there named, Thirlby, 
Skip and Day, protested against the bill for authorizing the book, and 
some of the Divines are supposed to have been equally unfriendly to it. 
The Coufimission, he thinks it probable, is not upon record ; and if 
these persons were on the Commission, they cannot have afforded 
Cranmer and Ri(il'\ much assistance. In this opinion Shepherd has fc 
lowed Strype. (Mem. vol. II. p. B5.)—A'm. £</. 



Book of Common Prayer. 29 

die first Common Prayer Book began with the Lordh Appendix 
prayer. The other changes were the removinpf of some , . ^^ . 
rites and ceremonies retained in the former book ; such _____ 
as the use o^oilin baptism ; the unction of the sick ; prayers 
for souls departed, both in the communion-office, and in 
that for the burial of the dead ; the leaving out the invo- 
cation of the Holy Ghost in tbe consecration of the Eu- 
charist, and the prayer of o6/a/2on that was used to follow 
jt ; the omitting the rubric, that ordered Tjcater to be 
mixed with wine, with several other less material varia* 
tions. The habits also, that are prescribed by the former 
book, were ordered by this to be laid aside ; and, lastly, 
a rubric was added at the end of the communion-office ^"^ ^sa"^ 
to explain the reason of kneeling Sii the Sacrament. The ^^y ^^^ ^^ 
book thus revised and altered was again confirmed in Pariia- 
Parliament A. D. 1551, who aeclared, that the alterations mept. Both 
that were made in it proceeded from curiosity rather than ^^^^ ^^_^^ 
any worthy cause. But both this and the former act made peakd by 
in 1548, were repealed in the first year of Queen Mary, Q. Mary. 
as not being agreeable to the Romish superstition, which 
she was resolved to restore. 

But upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth, the act of "^"^^^^"^ 
repeal was reversed ; and, in order to the restoring of the of g; £^. 
English service, several learned divines were appointed to ward was 
take another review of King Edward's Liturgies, and to ^s^^^ esta- 
frame from them both a book for the use of the Church ^'''^^^ '" 
of England. The names of those who, Mr. Cambden^^ ofQ.EHz- 
says, were employed, are these that follow : abeth. 

Dr. Matthew Parker, afterwards Ar<:hbishop of Can- 
terbury. 

Dr. Richard Cox, afterwards Bishop of Ely. 

Dr. May, 

Br, Bill, 

Dr. James Pilkington, afterwards Bishop of Durham. 

Sir Thomas Smith, 

Mr. David Whitehead, 

Mr. Edmund Grindall, afterwards Bishop of London, 
and then Archbishop of Canterbury. 

To these, Mr. Strype says^^, were added Dr. Edwin 
Sandys, afterwards Bishop of Worcester^ and Mr. Edward 
Guest, a very learned man, who was afterwards Arch- 
deacon of Canterbury, Almoner to the Queen, and Bi- 
shop of Roshester, and afterwards of Salisbury. And this 

75 Iq his History of Queen Eli- 75 Strype's Annals of Queen Eli- 
zabeth, zabetb, p. 82, 83. 



30 



Of (]ie Original of the 



Appendix 

to 
Introduct. 



last person, Mr. Strype thinks, had the main care of the 
whole business ; being, as he supposes, recommended by 
Parker to supply his absence. It was debated at first, 
which of the two books of King Edward should be re- 
ceived ; and secretary Cecil sent several queries to Guest, 
concerning the reception of some particulars in the first 
book; as prayers for the dead, the prayer of consecration, 
the delivery of the sacrament into the mouth of the com- 
municant, &c/^ But however, the second book of King 
Edward was pitched upon as the book to be proposed to 
the Parliament to be established, who accordingly passed 
and commanded it to be used, with one alteration or addi- 
tion of certain lessons to be used on every Sunday in the year, 
and the form of the Litany altered and corrected, and two 
sentences added in the delivery of the sacrament to the com^ 
municants, and none other, or otherwise. 

The alteration in the Litany here mentioned was the 
leaving out a rough expression, viz. from the tyranny of 
the Bishop of Rome, and all his detesiable enormities, which 
was a part of the last deprecation in both the books of 
King Edward ; and the adding those words to the first 
petition for the Queen, strengthen in the true worshipping 
of thee, in righteousness and holiness of life, which were not 
in before. The two sentences added in the delivery of 
the sacrament were these, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which was given for thee ; or the blood of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which was shed for theg ; preserve thy body and soul 
to everlasting life: which were taken out of King Ed- 
ward's first book, and were the whole forms then used : 
whereas in the second book of that King, these sentences 
were left out, and in the room of them were used, take, 
eat, or drink this, with what follows ; but now in Queen 
Elizabeth's book both these forms were united. 

Though, besides these here mentioned, there are some 
other variations in this book from the second of King 
Edv/ard, viz. The first rubric, concerning the situation 
of the Chancel and the proper place of reading divine 
service, was altered; the Habits enjoined by the first 
book of King Edward, and forbid by the second, were 
now restored. At the end of the Litany was added a 
prayer for the Queen, and another for the Clergy. And, 
lastly, the rubric that was added at the end of the com- 
munion-office, in the second book of King Edward VI. 
against the notion of our Lord's rea/ and essential presence 



77 Strype, ut supra. 



Book of Cmnmon Prayer. SI 

in the holy Sacrament, was left out of this. For it being Appendix 
the Queen's design to unite the nation in one faith, it ^ntrodwct 
was therefore recommended to the divines to see that ' 

there should be no definition made against the aforesaid 
notion, but that it should remain as a speculative opinion 
not determined, in which every one was left to the free- 
dom of his own mind. 

And in this state the Liturgy continued without any ^^^ ^°^® 
farther alteration, till the first year of King James I. ^adeblt 
when, after the conference at Hampton-court, between in the 
that Prince with Archbishop Whitgift of Canterbury, reign of 
and other Bishops and Divines on the one side ; and Dr. ^"^^"^^^ ^* 
Reynolds, with some other Puritans on the other; there 
were some forms of thanksgwing added at the end of the 
Litany, and an addition made to the catechism concerning 
the sacraments ; the catechism before that time ending 
with the answer to that question which immediately fol- 
lows the Lord's prayer. And in the rubric in the begin- 
ning of the office for private baptism, the words lawful 
minister were inserted, to prevent midwives or laymen 
from presuming to baptize, with one or two more small 
alterations. 

And in this state it continued to the time of King And the 
Charles II. who, immediately after his restoration, at the ^^oj^^book 
request of several of the Presbyterian ministers, was will- vfewed af- 
ing to comply to another review, and therefore issued out ter the Re- 
a commission, dated March 25, 1661, to empower twelve storation. 
of the Bishops, and twelve of the Presbyterian divines, to 
consider of the objections raised against the Liturgy, and 
to make such reasonable and necessary alterations as they 
should jointly agree upon : nine assistants on each side 
being added to supply the place of any of the twelve 
principals who should happen to be absent. The names 
of them are as follow : 



32 



Of the Original of the 



Appendix On the Episcoparian side. 



Infroduct* 



Principals. 

Dr. Fruen, Archb. of York. 
Dr, Sheldon, Bp. of London. 
Dr. Coshh Bp* of Durham. 
Dr. ^arner,Bp.of Rochester 
*Dr.Zmg, Bp. of Chichester, 
Dr. Henchman^Bp ofSarum 
Dr Morley^Bp. of Worcester. 
Dr,Sanderson, Bp,of Lincoln. 
Dr. Laney, Bp. of Peter boro" 
Dr. Walton, Bp. of Chester. 
Dr. Stern, Bp. of Carlisle. 
Dr. Gauden, Bp. of Exeter. 

Coadjutors. 

DwEarles.De'diU of Westmin- 

Dr. Heylin, [ster. 

Dr, Hackeit. 

Dr. Bar wick. 

Dr. Gunning* 

Dr, Pearson. 

Dr. Pierce. 

Dr. Sparrow, 

Mr. Thorndike, 



On the Presbyterian side. 

Principals. 

Dr,Reynolds,Bp. of Norwich ^ 

Dr. Jucknty. 

Dr. Conant, 

Dr. Spurs tow i 

Dr. Wallis. 

Dr. Manton, 

Mr. Calami/, 

Mr. Baxter. 

Mr. Jackson. 

Mr. Cfl^e. 

Mr. C/ar/c. 

Mr. Mewcomeni, 



Dr. 
Dr. 
Mr. 
Mr. 
Mr. 
Dr. 
Dr. 
Dr. 
Mr. 



Coadjutors. 

Horlon. 

Jacomb, 

Bates. 

Rawlinson. 

Cooper, 

Lightfodt. 

Collins. 

Woodbridge. 

Drake. 



These commissioners had several meetings at the Sa= 
voy, but all to very little purpose; the Presbyterians 
heaped together all the old scruples that the Puritans had 
for above a hundred years been raising against the Li- 
turgy, and, as if they were not enough, swelling the 
number of them with many new ones of their own. To 
these, one and all, they demand compliance on the 



* I do not meet with this name 
either in the copy of the comn ission 
that was printed in 1661, in the ac- 
count of the proceedings of the 
Commiesioners, or in that copy of 
it which Dr. Nichols has printed at 
the end of his preface to his book 
iipon the Common Prayer ; nor in 
that which Mr Collier g;iTes us in 
his Ecclesiastical History.* But 
Mr. Baxter inserts it in the copy of 
the commission that he has printed 
in the narrative of his own life,1 and 
* Vol. II. p. 87o. 



Dr. Nichol? mentions him in his in- 
troduction to his Defence of the 
Doctrine and Discipline of the 
Church of England : and there are 
not twt-lve princip»l Commission- 
ers on the Church side without him: 
and therefore I suppose he was left 
out of the copy of the commission 
in 166', b> the printer's mistake, 
and that from thence Dr. Nichols 
and Mr. Collier might continue the 
omission. 

t Page 303. 



Introduct. 



Book of Common Prayer. 33 

Church side, and will hear of no contradiction even in Appendi* 
the minutest circumstances. But the coinpletest piece of j^^^J^^, 
assurance was the behaviour of Baxter, who (though the 
King's commission gave them no farther power, than to 
compare the Common Prayer Book with the most ancient Li- 
turgies that had been used in the Churchy in the most primi- 
tive and purest times ; requiring them to avoids as much as 
possible, all unnecessary alterations of the Forms and Liturgy^ 
wherewith the people were altogether acquainted, and had so 
long received in the Church of England) would not so much 
as allow that our Liturgy was capable of amendment, but 
coniidently pretended to compose a nev/ one of his own ; 
and, without any regard to any other Liturgy whatsoever, 
either modern or ancient^ amassed together a dull, te- 
dious, crude, and indigested heap of stuffy which, toge- 
ther with the rest of the Commissioners on the Presby- 
terian side, he had the insolence to offer to the Bishops, 
to be received and established in the room of the Liturgy. 
Such usage as this, we may reasonably think, must draw 
the disdain and contempt of all that were concerned for 
the Church. So that the conference broke up, without 
any thing done, except that some particular alterations 
were proposed by the episcopal divines, which, the May 
following, were considered and agreed to by the whole 
Clergy in Convocation. The principal of them were, 
that several lessons in the calendar were changed for 
others more proper for the days ; the prayers for particular 
occasions were disjoined from ihe Litany, and the two 
prayers to be used in the Ember -weeks, the prayer for the 
Parliament, that for all conditions of men, and the general 
thanksgiving, were added : several of the collects were al- 
tered, the epistles and gospels were taken out of the last 
translation of the Bible, being read before according to 
the old translation: the office for baptism of those of riper 
years, and the forms of prayer to be used at sea, were 
added'^ In a word, the whole Liturgy was then brought 
to that state in which it now stands; and was unani- 
mously subscribed by both houses of Convocation, of both. 
Provinces, on Friday the 20th of December 1661. And 
being brought to the house of Lords the March following, 
both houses very readily passed an act for its establishment; 
and the Earl of Clarendon, then high Chancellor of Eng- 
land, was ordered to return the thanks of the Lords to the 

78 For a more particular account of what was done in this review^ 
See the Preface to the Common Prayer Book. 

E 



34 Of the Original of the 

Appendix Bishops and Clergy of both Provinces, for the great care 
Introduct. ^"^ industry shewn in the review of it.* 

Thus have I given a brief historical account of the first 

The com- compiling the Book of Comurion Prayer, and of the seve- 
piling of ral reviews that were afterwards taken of it by our Bishops 
lurey^'ic. ^"^ Convocations : one end of which was, that so " who- 
doneby an " soever will may easily see (as Bishop Sparrow shews on 
ecclesiasti- " a like''® occasion) the notorious slander which some of 
cal,andnot u jj^g Roman persuasion have endeavoured to cast upon 
power. " °"i' Church, viz. That her reformation hath been alto- 
" gether lay diud parliamentary ^ For it appears by the pro- 
ceedings observed in the reformation of the service of the 
church, that this reformation was regularly made by the 
Bishops and Clergy in their provincial synods : the King 
and Parliament only establishing by the civil sanction \wh^i 
was there done by ecclesiastical authority, " It was indeed 
" (as my Lord Bishop of Sarutn has excellently well ob- 
" served/^ confirmed by the authority of Parliament, and 
" there was good reason to desire that, to give it the force 
" of a law; but the authority of [the book and] those 
" changes is wholly to be derived from the Convocation, 
" who only consulted about them and made them. And 
" the Parliament did take that care in the enacting them, 
" that might shew they did only add the force of a law to 
" them : for in passing them it wa? ordered, that the Book 
" of Common Prayer and Ordination should only be read 
'' over, (and even that was carried upon some debate ; for 
" many, as I have been told, moved that the book should 
" be added to the act, as it was sent to the Parliament 
" from the Convocation, without ever reading it ; but that 
" seemed indecent and too implicit to others,) and there 
" was no change made in a tittle by Parliament. So that 
" they only enacted by a law what the Convocation had 
" done." And therefore, as his Lordship says in another 
place^^, " As it were a great scandal on the first general 
*' councils to say, that they had no authority for what 
" they did, but what they derived from the civil power ; 
" so it is no less unjust to say, because the Parliaments- 
^^ powered (1 suppose his Lordship means approved) some 
"persons to draw up forms for the more pure administra- 

79 Preface to his Colleclion of 80 Vindication of Ordinations of 
Articles, &c. towards the end. the Church of England, p. 53, 54. 

81. P. 74, 75. 

♦^ The royal afseut was given to it May 19, 1660. 



Book of Common Prayer, 35 

"* tion of the sacraments, and enacted that these only should Appendix 
'* be lawfully used in this realm, which is the civil sane- . ^° 

'' tion ; that therefore these persons had no other autho- \ 

" rity for what they did. Was it ever heard of that the 
•' civil sanction, which only makes any constitution to 
" have the force of a law, gives it any other authority 
" than a civil one ? The Prelates and other Divines, 
" that compiled [these forms] did it by virtue of the au- 
*' thority they had from Christ, as pastors of his church ; 
" which did impower them to teach the people the 
" piire w^ord of God, and to administer the sacraments, 
'• and to perform all holy functions, according to the 
'' Scripture, the practice of the primitive church, and the 
'' rules of expediency and reason ; and this they ought to 
'' have done, though the civil power had opposed it : in 
'' which case their duty had been to have submitted to 
*' whatever severities and persecutions they might have 
" been put to for the name of Christ, or the truth of his 
" Gospel. But on the other hand, when it pleased God, 
" to turn the hearts of those which had the chief power, 
" to set forward this good work ; then they did, as they 
"ought, with all thankfulness acknowledge so great a 
" blessing, and accept and improve the authority of the 
" civil power, for adding the sanction of a law to the rc- 
" formation, in all the parts and branches of it. So by the 
" authority they derived from Christ, and the warrant they 
*• had by the Scripture and the primitive Church, these 
" Prelates and Divines made those alterations and changes 
" in the ordinal; and the King and the Parhament, who 
*' are vested with the supreme legislative power, added 
'' their authority to them, to make them obligatory on 
" the subjects." These excellent words of this right 
reverend Prelate are a full and complete answer to the 
Romanists' cavil of the lay original of our Liturgy. And 
I cannot but wonder, that others, who have wrote ex- 
ceeding well on the Common Prayer Book, have not been 
careful to obviate this objection ; but have indeed rather 
given occasion for it, by intimating as if the Book of 
Common Prayer had been compiled by some persons only 
by virtue and authority of the King's commission: whereas 
it was indeed a committee of the two houses of Convoca- 
tion, and the book was revised and authorized by the 
whole synod, and in a synodical way, before it received 
the civil sanction from the King and Parliament. 



36 Of the Original of the 

Appendix And for this reason ] have given a true account of this 
Introduct D^atter, that others who are led away by Erastian princi- 
' pies, and think that the civil magistrate only has authority 
in matters of religion, may be convinced that this is not 
agreeable to the doctrine of our Church ; who declares in 
her twentieth article, that the Church (that is, the eccle- 
siastical governors, the Bishops and their Presbyters; for 
there may be a church where there is no Christian civil 
magistrate) hath power to decree riles and ceremonies and 
authority in matters of faith : and affirms again in the thirty- 
seventh article, that where we attribute to the Queen'' s Ma- 
jesty the chief government^ we give not to our Princes the 
ministering either ofGod''s word^ or of the Sacraments ; hut 
that only prerogative^ 7ohich we see to have been given cd* 
ways to all godly Princes in holy Scripture by God himself; 
that 2*5, that they should rule all estates and degrees committed 
to their charge by God^ whether they be ecclesiastical or tem- 
poral^ and restrain with the CIVIL sword the stubborn and 
evil doers. Our Liturgy was therefore first established by 
the Convocations or provincial Synods of the realm, and 
thereby became obligatory in foro conscientios ; and was 
then confirmed and ratified by the supreme Magistrate in 
Parliament, and so also became obligatory in foro civili* It 
has therefore all authority both ecclesiastical and civil. 
As it is established by ecclesiastical authority, those who 
separate themselves and setup another form of worship 
are Schismatics ; and consequently are guilty of a damna- 
JdIc sin, which no toleration granted by the civil magistrate 
ican authorize or justify. But as it is settled by act of Par- 
liament, the separating from it is only an offence against 
the state ; and as such may be pardoned by the state. The 
act of toleration therefore (diS it is called) has freed the 
Dissenters from being ofienders against the state, notwith- 
standing their separation from the worship prescribed by 
the Liturgy : but it by no means excuses or can excuse 
them from the schism they have made in the church ; 
they are still guilty of that sin, and will be so as long as 
they separate, notwithstanding any temporal authority to 
indemnify them. 

And here I designed to have put an end to the Intro- 
duction ; but having in the first part of it vindicated the 
use of Liturgies in general, and in this Appendix given an 
historical account of our own ; I think I cannot more pro- 
perly conclude the whole than with Dr. Comber's excel- 
lent and just encomium of the latter 5 by which the reader 



Book of Common Prayer* 37 

^vill, I doubt not, be very well entertained, and perhaps Appendix 
be rendered more inquisitive after those excellencies and jn^j-o^uct. 

beauties which are here mentioned, and which it is one J 

chief design of the following treatise to shew. In hopes of 
this therefore, I shall here transcribe the very words of the 
reverend and learned author. 

"Though all churches in the world, saith he^^, have a charac- 
'• and ever had forms of prayer ; yet none was ever blessed ter of our 
^* with so comprehensive, so exact, and so inoffensive a Liturgy. 
" composure as ours: which is so judiciously contrived, 
" that the wisest may exercise at once their knowledge 
" and devotion ; and yet so plain, that the most ignorant 
" may pray with understanding: so full, that nothing is 
" omitted which is fit to be asked in public ; and so par- 
" ticular that it compriseth most things which we would 
" ask in private ; and yet so short, as not to tire any that 
" hath true devotion : its doctrine is pure and primitive ; 
" its ceremonies so few and innocent, that most of the 
" Christian world agree in them : its method is exact and 
" natural ; its language significant and perspicuous ; most 
*' of the words and phrases being taken out of the holy 
" Scriptures,and the rest are the expressions of the first and 
'' purest ages ; so that whoever takes exception at these 
" must quarrel with the language of the Holy Ghost, and 
*' fall out with the church in her greatest innocence ; and 
" in the opinion of the most impartial and excellent Gro- 
" tius, (who was no member of, nor had any obligation to, 
" this church,) the English Liturgy comes so near to the 
" primitive pattern, that none of the reformed churches 
" can compare with it^^. 

" And if any thing external be needful to recommend 
" that which is so glorious v)ithin ; we may add that the 
*' Compilers were [most of them] men of great piety and 
^' learning; [and several of them] either martyrs or con- 
" fessors upon the restitution of Popery ; which as it de- 
" clares their piety, so doth the judicious digesting of these 
" prayers evidence their learning. For therein a scholar 
" may discern close logic, pleasing rhetoric, pure divinity, 
" and the very marrow of the ancient doctrine and disci- 
" pline ; and yet all made so familiar, that the unlearned 
" may safely say Amen^'*. 

" Lastly, all these excellencies have obtained that uni- 
" versal reputation which these prayers enjoy in all the 

82 Dr. Comber's preface, p. 4, 83 Grotius Ep. ad Boet. 
of the fol. edic. 84 1 Cor. xiv. 16. 



38 Of the Original of, ^-c. 

Appendix " world : SO that they are most deservedly admired by tlie 
Introduct. *' eastern churches, and had in great esteem by the most 

" eminent Protestants beyond sea^^, who arc the most im- 

" partialjudges that can be desired. In short, this Litur^sjy 
*• is honoured by all but the Romanist, whose interest it 
" opposeth, and the Dissenters, whose prejudices will not 
" let them see its lustre. Whence it is that they call that, 
" which the Papists hate because it is Protestant, supersti- 
'• tious and popish. But when we consider that the best 
" things in a bad world have the most enemies^ as it doth 
" not lessen its worth, so it must not abate our esteem, be- 
" cause it hath malicious and misguided adversaries. 

" How endless it is to dispute with these, the little suc- 
" cess of the best arguments, managed by the wisest men, 
'' do too sadly testify : wdierefore we shall endeavour to 
" convince the enemies, by assisting the friends of our 
" church devotions : and by drawing the veil which the 
" ignorance and indevotion of some, and the passion and 
"prejudice of others have cast over them, represent 
" the Liturgy in its true and native lustre : which is so 
" lovely and ravishing, that, like the purest beauties, it 
'• needs no supplement of art and dressing, but conquers 
"^ by its own attractions, and wins the affections of all but 
" those who do not see it clearly. This will be sufficient 
'^ to shew, that whoever desires no more than to worship 
'' God with zeal and knowledge, spirit and truth, purity 
'• and sincerity, may do it by these devout forms. And 
'' to this end may the God of peace give us all meek hearts, 
'• quiet spirits and devout affections ; and free us from all 
'• sloth and prejudice, that we may have full churches, 
'• frequent prayers, and fervent charity ; that, uniting in 
" our prayers here, we may all join in his praises hereafter, 
" for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 

85 See Durel's Defence of the Liturgv. 



llie.- End of the Introduclory Discourse, 



*€HAP. I. 
Of the TABLES, RULES, and CALENDAR. 



PART I. 
OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 



Sect. I. Of the Rule for finding Easter, 

The proper Lessons and Psalms being spoken to at large ^^^P' ^* 

in other parts of this treatise, there is no need to say ^ 

any thing particularly concerning the Tables that appoint 
them. I shall therefore pass them by, and begin with the 
Rule for finding Easter; which stands thus in all Books 
of Common Prayer printed in or since the year 175^: j^^j^ f^^ 
Easter- day is always the first Sunday after the full Moon, finding 
which happens upon or next after the twenty-first day of Easter. 
March ; and if the full Moon happens upon a Sunday, 
Easter-day is the Sunday after, 

§. 2. To show upon what occasion the rule was framed, 
it is to be observed, that in the first ages of Christianity ^P^°J!:^„^* 

I TiT- 1 ^ I 1 1 r occasion 

there arose a great dinerence between the churches oi this rule 
Asia and other churches, about the day, whereon Easter was 
ought to be celebrated. framed. 

* In this edition, after the example of all others published since the 
year 1752, this chapter is printed with the alterations necessary to adapt 
it to the new Calendar, Tables^ and Rules ^ which were ordered to be 
prefixed to all future editions of the Book of Common Prayer, by the act 
24 Geo. 11. entitled, .>3n*4c« /or regulating Ihe commencement of the 
year ; and far correcting the cahJidar^ 



40 Of the Tables and Rules. 

Part I. The churches of Asia kept their Easter upon the same 
~; day on which the Jews celebrated their passover, viz, upon 
^relSy '^' ^^^ fourteenth day of their first month Nisan (which month 
observed began at the new moon next to the vernaP equinox) ; and 
by differ- this they did upon what day of the week soever it fell ; and 
Ch h were from thence called Quarto decimans^ or such as kept 
Easter upon the fourteenth day after the tpaV/?, or appear- 
ance of the moon : whereas the other churches, especially 
those of the West, did not follow this custom, but kept 
their Easter on the Sunday following the Jewish passover; 
partly the more to honour the day, and partly to distin- 
guish between Jews and Christians. Both sides pleaded 
apostolical tradition : these latter pretending to derive their 
practice from St. Peter and St. Paul : whilst the others, 
viz. the Asiatics, said they ihiitated the example of St» 
John^ . 
Ordered to This difference for a considerable time continued with a 
vh^Y'^'b- ?>^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ Christian charity and forbearance ; but at 
served on length became the occasion of great bustles in the church ; 
the same which grew to such a height at last, that Constantine 
day by the thought it time to use his interest and authority to allay 
Nke. ° ^^^ ^^^^ °^ ^^^ opposite parties, and to bring them to a 
uniformity of practice. To which end he got a canon to 
be passed in the great general council of Nice, " That 
*' every where the great feast of Easter should be observed 
" upon one and the same day ; and that not on the day of 
" the Jewish passover, but, as had been generally observed 
" upon the Sunday afterwards." And^ that this dispute 
might never arise again, these paschal canons were then 
also established, viz. 
The Pas- 1. " That the twenty-first day of March shall be ac- 
chal ca- a counted the vernal equinox. 

ed"in^u!e' 2. '' That the fall moon happening upon or next after 
Council of « the twenty -first day of March shall be taken for the full 
Nice. u jjjoQpi of Nisan* 

3. " That the Lord's day next following that full moon 
" be Easter-day. 

4. " But if the full moon happen upon a Sunday, Eas- 
" ter-day shall be the Sunday after." 

The Moons §• ^' Agreeable to these is the Rule for finding Easter, 
tobefonnd which we are now discoursing of. But here we must ob- 
outbythe scrvc, that the Fathers of the next century ordered the 
S°'^f" new and full moons to be found out by the cycle of the 

2 Joseph. Antiq.J»daicl.3.c.lO. p. 193, k.c. Vide ctl. 4.c. J4. 

3 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 5. c.23,24. 4 Euseb.lnVita Constant. I.3.C. 18- 



Of the Tables and Jlules. 41 

moon^ consisting of nineteen years, invented by Meton the "P^^* ^• 
* Athenian, and from its great usefuhiess in ascertaining *■""" 
the moon's age, as it was thought for ever, was called the 
Golden Number ; and was for some time usually written in 
letters of Gold. By this cycle, I say, the Fathers of the 
next century ordered the moon's age to be found out ; 
which they thought a certain way, since at the end of 
nineteen years the moon returns to have her changes on 
the same day of the solar year and month, whereon they 
happened nineteen years before. For which reason the 
cycle was some time afterwards placed in the calendar, in 
the first column of every month, in such manner a.s that 
every number of the cycle should stand against those days 
in each month, on which the new moons should happen 
in that year of the cj'cle. But now it is to be noted, that 
though at the end of every nineteen years the moon 
changes on the very same days of the solar months, on 
which it changed nineteen years before; yet the change 
happens about an hour and a half sooner every nineteen 
years than in the former ; which, in the time that the 
Golden Number stood in the calendar, had made an al- 
teration of about five days. 

§. 4. By this means it happened that Easter was kept Easter was 
sometimes sooner and sometimes later tt an the rule seemed ^^P* soaie- 
to direct, and the Fathers of the Nicene council intended, er^and^ 
For it is very manifest that they designed that the first full sometimes 
moon after the vernal equinox should be ihe paschal full ^^^^^ *han 
moon ; (for otherwise they knew that the resurrection of g^g^" \q 
lOur blessed Lord could not be commemorated at the time direct, 
it happened :) but then, for want of better skill in astro- 
nomy in those times, they confined the equinox to the 
twenty-first of March ; whereas it hath since been disco- 
vered not only that the moon's cycle of nineteen years 
complete was too long, but also that the Julian solar year, 
which they reckoned by, exceeds the true solar one by 
about eleven minutes every year ; which had brought the 
equinoxes forward eleven or twelve days from the time of 
the Nicene council, Hence it must often have happened, 
that the first full moon after the twenty-first of March 
hath been different from the first full moon after the ver- 
nal equinox ; and that they who have observed Easter 
according to the letter of the Nicene canons, and the rule 
for finding the paschal full moon by the Golden Number 

5 Blondel'a Roman Calendar, Part I. lib. 2. c. 5. 

F 



42 



Of the Tables and Rules, 



Chap. I. as placed soon after in the calendar, have not alv^ays ob- 
■■ ■ ■ served itaccordiogto the intent of those Fathers. But yet 
as soon as ever the canons were passed, the whole catholic 
church was very strict in adhering to them ; and so ten- 
der of the authority of them, that about two hundred 
years after the Nicene council this following table was 
drawn up by Dionysius Exiguus, a 
Roman; wherein are expressed all 
'hose days, on which the first full 
.noons after the twenty-fii'st of March 
happen in all the nineteen years of 
the lunar cycle : which was so well 
pproved of, that, by the council of 
Chalcedon holdcn a little after, it was 
agreed that the Sunday next foflow- 
logthe paschal limits answering the 
;')Iden numbers, as \hey are ex- 
pressed in this table, should be Eas- 
"erday ; and that whosoever cele- 
(.>rat<^d Easter on any other day 
should be accounted an heretic. 

According to this table was Easter 
observed from the year of Christ 534, 
or thereabouts, till the year 1582 : at 
which time Pope Gregory XIll. re- 
formed the calendar, and brought 
l)ack the vernal equinox to the twen- 
ty-first of March. So that the Roman 
ciiurch keeping their Easter from 
that time on the first Sunday after 
the first full moon next after the 
twenty-first of March, observed it 
'xactly according to the use of the 
)rimitive church. And in the year 
\1 }% the like reformation was made 
in our calendar, hy ordering the third d^j of September in 
that year to be called the//nr/ccn//t, thereby suppressing 
eleven intermediate days, and bringing back the vernai 
equinox to the twenty-first of March, as it was at the time 
of the Nicene council. 

Sect. II. Of the Tables for finding Easter. 

j^FTER the Rule for finding Easte-r is inserted an ac- 
count when the rest of the moveable feasts and holy-days be- 
gin ; and after that follow certain tables relating to the 



The Paschal Limits 


answering the GoUi- 


enNu tnb^ rs,accord- 


ing to the Julian ac- 


count. 


Gc.den 


The Pascha) 


jNurcb. 


L-m!(^. 


i 


April 5, 


2 


March 25. 


3 


April 13, 


4 


April 2. 


5 


March 22. 


6 


April 10. 


7 


March 30. 


8 


April .8. 


9 


April 7. 


10 


March 27. 


11 


April »5. 


12 


A'pril 4- 


13 


March 24. 


14 


April 12. 


15 


April 1. 


16 


March 21. 


17 


April 9. 


18 


March 2:\ 


\9 


April 17. 



Of the Tables an J Rules* 43 

feasts and vigils that are to he observed in the Church of Eng- Part I* 
land^ and other days of fasting or abstinence^ with an ac- ^— •* 
count of certain solemn days for which particular services 
are appointed. But these, and every thing relating to 
them, I shall have a more convenient opportunity to treat 
of hereafter; and therefore shall pass on now to the Ta- 
bles for finding Easter, 

When the Nicene council had setded the true time tot the feish^ 
kcepinf^ Easter in the method set down in the first section op of Alex- 
of this^chapter, the Bishop of Alexandria (for the Egj^p- ^^'^^^^ ^^^ 
tians at that time excelled in the knowledge of astronomy) po.nTed^to 
was appointed to give notice of Easter-day to the Pope give notice 
and other Patriarchs, to be notified by them to the Metro- °f ^!*'*^^j' 
politans, and by them again to all other ^ Bishops. But this ^^^urches. 
injunction could be buttemporary : for length of time must 
needs make such alteration in the state of affairs, as must 
render any such method of notifying the time of Easter 
impracticable. And therefore this was observed no longer 
than till a Cycle or course of all the variations which 
might happen in regard to Easter*day might be settled. 

§. 2. Hereupon the computists applied themselves to ?^^ ^^^^ 
frame such a Cycle : and the vernal equinox being fixed by drawn up. 
the council of Nice,and Easter-day by them also appointed 
to be always the first Sunday after the first full moon next 
after the vernal eqinox ; they had nothing to do, but to 
calculate all the revolutions of the moon and of the days 
of the week, and inquire, whether, after a certain number 
of years, the new moons, and consequently the full moons, 
did not fall out, not only on the same days of the solar year, 
(for that they do after every nineteen years,) but also on 
the same days of the weekon which they happened before, 
and in the same ordinary course. Because, by calculating 
a table for such a number of years, they might find Easter 
for ever ; viz, by beginning again at the end of the last 
year, and going round as it were in a circle. 

And first a Cycle was framed at Rome for eighty-four The Cycle 
years, and generally received in the Western church ; it of84years- 
being thought that in that space of time the changes of 
the moon would return to the same days both of the week 
and year in such manner as they had done before^. Dur- 
ing the time that Easter was kept according to this Cycle, 
Britain was separated from the Roman Empire, and the 

G See Pope Leon's Epistle to the Historical Account of Church gov- 
Emperor M:-.rceanu«, epist. 64- etnmenf, p 67. and Bede Hist. 1, 

7 See the Bishop of Worcester's 5. c. 22. in fin. 



44 Of the Tables and Rules. 

Chap. I. British churches for some time after that separation conti- 
nued to keep their Easter by this table of eighty-four 
years* But soon after that separation, the church of Rome 
and several others discovered great deficiencies in this ac- 
count, and therefore left it for another, which was more 
perfect : not but that also had its defects, though it has 
been continued ever since in the Greek church, and some 
others ; and till very lately in our own^ 
The Cycle The Cycle I mean was drawn up about the year 457, 
of .532 by Victorious^ or Victorinus^a. native of Aquitain, an emi- 
years, or j^gj^j. mathematician : who, observing that the Cycle of the 
Period. Sunday letter consisted of twenty-eight years, and conse- 
quently that the days of the week have a complete revo- 
lution, and begin and go on again every twenty-eight 
years, just in the same order that they did twenty-eight 
3''ears before, and that the Cycle of the Moon returned to 
have her changes on the same days of the solar year and 
month, whereon they happened nineteen years before, but 
not on the same days of the week ; Victorious, 1 say, hav- 
ing observed thi?, and endeavouring to compose a Cycle, 
which should contain all the changes of the days of the 
week, and of the moon also, (which was necessary to find 
Easter for ever;) he multiplied these two Cycles of nine- 
teen and twenty-eight together, and from thence compos- 
ed his period of five hundred and thirty-two years, from 
him ever after called the Victorian Period. And in this 
time he supposed the new moons would fall out on the 
same days both of the month and week, on which they 
happened before, and in the same orderly course. Sa 
that this day (be it what day it will) is the same day of the 
year, month, moon, and week, that it was five hundred 
and thirty-two years ago, or will be five hundred and 
thirty-two years hence ; i. e, if this calculation has no de- 
fect in it, as it was then thought to have none, or so little 
as would make no considerable variation. And when the 
first full moon after the vernal equinox, or March 21, 
happens on the same day both of the month and week, it 

8 This alteration of the cvcle to upon the coming in of Augustin the 

find Easter was the chii-e that the monli.fiist Archbishop of Cantt-rbu- 

Bntons, who kept to the old ac- rj, caused some conJesl? in this isl- 

count, differed from the Romi<ns in and, of which Bede givesj a large 

the time ofce ebratinc this festival. account, [Hist. Ecol. I. 3. c. 25. 1. 

For Ihonsjh both nept it on a Sum- 5. ( . 2,\] »vhpre it may be seen 'hat 

day acrording to the Uuleofthe th?; Hnlons never weie Quar/orfeci- 

Conncil of Nic( ; vet the^ differed mans, as some hare imagined them 

A& to the particular ttunday. This to be. 



Of the Tables and Rules, 46 

did any year before ; Easter-day must also fall on the Part. I. 
same day on which it happened that year: so that Eas- 
ter, according to this computation, must go through all its 
variations in five hundred and thirty-two years ; foras- 
much as the moon and the days of the week have all their 
variations in that space. 

§. 3. This calculation was thous^ht to come much nearer „, .^ cvcle 
to the truth (as indeed it did) than the former table of established 
eighty-four years : for which reason it was generally fol- by the 
lowed in a little time. And the fourth council of Orleans, Church. 
A. D. 541, decreed, that^ " the feast of Easter should be 
" celebrated every year according to the table of Victo- 
" rius ; and that the day whereon it is to be celebrated 
" every year should be declared by the Bishop in the time ^^^ ^^ 
" of divine service on the feast of Epiphany." However ^aj-jg 
in a little time it was thought more convenient to adapt adapted to- 
these tables to the calendar, so that every one, who had a |}^^ calen- 
book of the divine offices wherein this calendar was pla- service 
ced, mi^ht know the day whereon Easter should be kept, book, 
without any farther information. 

But the whole table being of too great a length to be The occa- 
inserted into one book of divine offices, it was found more Qo^jg^**^* 
advisable to place the Golden Number^ or Cycle of the Number 
moon, in the first column of the calendar, and the homi- and Domi- 
nical Letters in another column ; in such manner that the "ical Let- 
Golden Number should point out the new moons in every p^aced'in 
month : by which means it would be easy to find out the the calen- 
fourteenth day of the Easter moon, or the first full moon d^r- 
after the twenty-first day of March, and then, by the Do- 
minical Letter following that day, to be assured of the day 
whereon Easter must be kept. 

§. 4. And from these two columns was drawn up a to^^ndVa^,. 
Table to Jind Easter for ever ; that so at any time, by only terforever 
knowing the Golden Number and the Dominical Letter, erroneous, 
it might be seen at one view (without any trouble or com- ^l^^V^g a 
putation) what day Easter would happen on in any year jt by, 
required. But that table being founded on this erroneous 
supposition, ria-. that the Golden Numbers, as fixed in the 
calendar, would /or ever shew the day of the new moon in 
every month, which they have long since failed to do, it 
is laid aside, and others substituted in its place, whereby 
to find thepaschal full moon and Easter-day till the year 
1900 ; when the Golden Numbers must be shifted (accord- 

9 Can. I. Concil. torn. t. cq] 381. E. 



Chap 



46 Of the Tables and Rules. 

'• ing to the tables prepared for that purpose^®) to make 
them continue to answer the ends for which they stand in 
the tables and calendar. But it does not fall within our 
present design to consider tahles which are calculated for 
so distant a time. 



The Gold- 
en Num- 
ber. 



By whom 

invented, 

and v/hy 

called 

Golden 

Number, 

&c. 



The occa- 
sion of it, 
and how 
brought 
into the 
calendar. 



Why now 
ordered to 
be left out 
of the cal- 
endar. 



Seot. 1 II. Of the Golden Niimher, 

I Px\SS on now to the table of moveable feasts for fifiy-twQ 
years^ where it may be expected I should speak of three 
things therein mentioned, viz. the Golden Number^ the 
Epact^ and the Dominical Letter ; and of these, the first 
that offers itself is the Golden Number : of this therefore in 
the first place. 

§. 2. And this, as we have already hinted, was invented 
long before our Saviour's nativity by Meton the Athenian, 
from whence it was styled the jVJetonic Cycle ; till after- 
wards it changed its name, being, either from its great 
usefulness in ascertaining the moon's age, or else from its 
being written in letters of gold, called the Golden Number ; 
though sometimes, for the first of these reasons, it is called 
the Cycle of the Moon. 

§. 3. The occasion of this Cycle was this: It having 
been observed that at the end of nineteen years the moon 
returned to have her changes on the same days of the 
solar year and month whereon they happened nineteen 
years before; it was thought that by the use of a cycle, 
consisting of nineteen numbers, the time of the new moons 
every year might be found out, without the help of astro- 
nomical tables, after this manner : viz. They observed on 
what day of each calender month the new moon fell in 
each year of the cycle, and to the said days they set re- 
spectively the number of the said year. And after this 
method they went through all the nineteen years of the 
cycle, as may be seen in the calendar of most Common 
Prayer Books printed before the year 17.^2. 

§. 4. And by this method the new moon could be 
found with accuracy enough at the time of the Nicene 
council, forasmuch as the Golden Number did then shew 
the day (/. e. the Nnchthemeron) upon which the new 
moon fell out. And hrnupon is founded the rule of the 
Nicene council for finding Easter, as has been already 



10 See the four last tables in the Book of Common Prayer. 



Of the Tables and Rules, 



47 



shewed. But here it is to be observed, that the cycle of ^^^^ 
the moon is less than nineteen Julian years, by one hour, " 

twenty-seven minutes, and almost 
thirty-two seconds : whence it comes 
to pass, that although the new mooii 
fall again upon ihe same days as the 
did nineteen years before, yet the 
fall not on the same hour of the da} \ 
or Nuchthemeron, but one hour, 
twenty-seven minutes, and aknost 
thirty-two seconds sooner. And this 
difference arising in about three hun 
dred and twelve years to a whole day ; 
it must follow that the new moon, 
after ivery three hundred and twelve 
years, would fall a whole day (oi 
Kuchthemeron) sooner. So that for 
this reason the new moons were found 
to fall about four days and a half 
sooner now than the Golden Num 
bers indicated. And though this 
might have been rectified for the pre 
sent, by shifting the Golden Numbers 
to the days on which the astronomical 
new moons now happen ; yet it has 
been ordered by the late Act for 
correcting the Calendar, that the 
column of Golden Numbers, as they 
were prefixed to the respective days 
of all the months in the calendar, 
shall be left out in all future edition.* 
of the Book of Common Prayer 
And accordingly the Golden Numbers have now no place 
in the calendar but against the twenty tirst of March 
and the eighteenth of April*, and some of the interme- 
diate days, where they stand only as the paschal terms, 
(for a limited time",) shewing the days of the /w// moons, 
by which Easter is to be governed through all the several 
years of the moon's cycle ; as is expressed in the table 
annexed. 



The Paschal Limits 


answering the Gold- 


en Numbers accord- 


ing to 


the new ac- 


count. 




Go. den 


The Paschal 


LN'nmb. 


Limits. 


1 
2 
3 


April IJ. 

April 2. 
March 22. 


4 
5 


April 10. 
March 30. 


6 
7 

8 


April 18. 
April 7. 
March 27. 


9 
10 
11 


April 15. 
April 4. 
March 2^. 


12 
13 
14 


April 12. 
April 1. 
March 21. 


15 
16 


April 9. 
March 29. 


17 

18 
19 


April 17. 
April 6. 
March 26. 



* The twenty-first of March and the eighteenth of April are properly 
the paschal limits, because the full moon by which Easter is governed 
must not fall before the former or after the latter day : so that March 



11 Till the year 1899 inclusive. 



48 Of the Tables and Rules. 

Chap. I. J, 5. I shall add no more on this head, than to shew how 
we maj find the Golden Number for any year. And this 
Crolden ^ ^^ done by adding one ^^ to the given year of Christ, and 
Number of then dividing the sum by nineteen. If after the division 
any year, nothing remains over, then the Golden Number is nine- 
teen; but if any number remains over, then the said re- 
mainder is the Golden Number for that year. For instance, 
I would know the Golden Number for the year 1758, 
which by this method I find to be 1 1 ; for 1758 and 1, 
{i, e, 1750) being divided by 19, there will remain 11. 
And thus much for the cycle of the moon. 



Sect. IV. Of the Epacls. 

The Lunar 1 HE Lunar Year consists of twelve lunar months, i. e, 
year how of twelve months, consisting of about twenty-nine days 
and a half each. In which space of time the Moon re- 
turns to her conjunction with the Sun ; that is, from one 
new moon to the next new moon are very near twenty- 
nine days and a half. But, to avoid fractions, the com- 
putists allow thirty days to one moon, and twenty-nine to 
another: so that in twelve moons six are computed to have 
thirty days each, and the other six but twenty -nine days 
each. Thus beginning the year with March, (for that was 
the ancient custom,) they allowed thirty days for the moon 
in March, and twenty-nine for that in April ; and thirty 
again for May, and twenty-nine for June, &c. according 
to the old verses : 

Impar luna pari^ par fid in impure mense; 
In quo compleiur mensi lunatio detur* 
For the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh 
months, which are called impares menses, or unequal 
months, have their moons according to computation of 
thirty days each, which are therefore called pares lunce, or 
equal moons : but the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, 



<he twenty-second is the earliest day, and April the twenty-fifth (which, 
if the eighteenth should be full moon and a Sunday, will be the Sunday 
following") the latest day upon which Easter can fall. And upon this is 
framed the Table of the moveable feasts according to the several days that 
Easter can possibly fall upon. 



12 The reason of adding one is, because the aera of Christ began iq 
the second year of the cycle. 



Of the Tables and Rules. A 9 

and twelfth months, which are cdWtdpares menses, or equal Par* '• 
months, have their moons but twenty-nine days each, — ' 

which are called impares Luncd, of unequal moons. 

6. 2. Now these twelve months of thirty and twenty- T^® °ff,^' 
nme days alternate, makmg up but three hundred fifty- Epact. 
four days in all ; the whole lunar year must consequently 
be eleven days shorter than the solar year, which consists 
of three hundred sixty-five days. So that supposing the 
new moon to be on the first day of March in any year; in 
the next year the new moon wall happen eleven days be- 
fore the first of March, viz. on February eighteen. There- 
fore, to know the age of the moon on the first of March 
that year, we add an Epact, i, e. an intercalar number of 
eleven days ; the lunar month being that year eleven days 
before the solar. Then again, at the end of the next year, 
the new moon will fall eleven days sooner than it did at 
the end of the foregoing year, viz. on February the sev- 
enth ; for which reason we add eleven days more for the 
Epact of the next year, which makes it twenty-two. The 
year after this the moon will again fall short of the time 
whereon it happened in the foregoing year eleven days 
more ; which being added to twenty-two, the Epact of the 
year past, the whole will make thirty -three, that is one 
whole moon and three days over : so that in that year we 
compute thirteen moons, viz. twelve common moons of 
thirty and twenty-nine days alternate, and an intercalar 
one of thirty days ; and take the odd three daj'S for the 
Epact of the next year, and then proceed in the same man- 
ner again, by adding eleven at the end of every year; 
always observing, when the number rises above thirty, to 
add an intercalar moon to that year, and to retain the re- 
maining number for the Epact of the next. 



50 



Of the Tables and Rules* 



Chap. T. 



How the 
Epacts an- 
swer to the 
GoMen 
Number. 



A Table of Epacts. 



Golden 
Numb 



How to find 
the Epact. 



1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
H 
7 
8 
9 
10 

;i 

12 
13 
14 
lb 
16 
17 
18 
19 



Old 
Stife. 



11 
22 

3 
14 
25 

6 

ir 

2 

9 
20 

1 
12 
23 

4 
15 
26 

7 

n 

29 



New 

Stile. 



§. 3. Thus have we nineteen Epacts, answering to the 
Golden Numbers, and following one another in course, by 
the adding of eleven days every year 
in the following manner; 11. 22. 

3*3. 14. 25. 3*6. 17. 28. 39. 20. 3*1. 

12. 23. 34. 15. 26. 37. 18. 29. 
In which cycle of Epacts, as I 
have noted them in the numbers 

33. 36. 39. 31. 34. 37. the fi- 
gures that have a dot or title over 
them are not put as belonging to 
the Epact; but only denote that in 
those years there is an intercalar 
or thirteenth month of thirty days 
added to the year before ; but the 
Epacts for those years are 3. 6. 9. 
1. 4. 7. And after the Epact of 
29, (which makes the last interca- 
lar month,) the cycle begins again 
at ?{. But this is so only in the 
Julian account; for according to 
the new reckoning, though the 
years of the Golden Number agree, 
the Epacts are different ; as may 
be seen by the ad-oining table, in 
which both are exhibited in one 
view. 




11 
22 

3 
14 
25 

6 
17 
2^ 

9 
20 

1 

i2 
23 

4 
15 
26 

7 
18 



The use of 
the Epact 

to find the 
moon'sage. 



§. 4. The readiest way to find the Julian Epact is by the 
Golden Number; for if the Golden Number be 3, or a 
number to be divided by 3, the Epact is the same. If it 
be any other number, as 4, 5, 7, or 8, consider how many 
numbers it is more than the last number to be divided by 
3, and add so many times 1 J to it, casting away 30 as often 
as there is occasion, and it gives the Epact. And the Ju* 
lian Epact being known, it is easy from thence to find the 
Epact according to the New Stile : namely, if the Julian 
Epact be greater than 1 1, subtract 1 1 from it ; if less than 
11, add -30 to it, and from that sum subtract 11, and the 
remainder vvill be the Epact required. Or in still fewer 
words, the difference of the Epacts of the Old Stile from 
the New is equal to the number of days taken away from 
the Old. 

§. 5> By the Epact we discover the true astronomical 
moons very near, i.e, within a day over or under, which 
may be sufficient for common use, and no cycle can be 



Of the Tables and Rules, 51 

found nearer. The method of doing which is this : if we Part I. 

would know how old the moon is on any day of a month, "^^ 

we must add unto that day the Epact, and as many days 
more as there art months from March to that month in- 
clusive"; which if it be less than 30 shews the moon's 
age ; if it be greater, subtract 80 from it, and the age of 
the moon remaineth ; i- e. whatever number remains after 
the whole has been divided by 30, so many days old is the 
moon : if nothing remains, the moon changes that day. 
Thus for instance, if we would know what the age of the 
moon will be the second of November in the year 1758, 
we must inquire after this manner : the Epact for that 
year is 20 ; to 20 therefore we must add 2, the day of the 
month, and 9 more, the number of the month inclusive 
from March;'; which three numbers being added together, 
makeup the number 31 ; from which if we subtract ;iO(the 
moon having so many days in November, that being an 
unequal month) there will remain 1, which will appear 
to be the age of the moon on that day. 

§. 6. The reason why the Epacts shew the moon's age ^yhy the 
truer than the Golden Number did, is because the Golden Epacts 
Number being affixed to the calendar could not be re- shew the 
moved to other days than those against which they stood, ™°°° ®^ 
unless by public authority. But the Epacts not being so Jhan the 
affixed, have been changed from time to time by the com- Golden 
putists, as they saw occasion to make such alteiations, in Number, 
order to make their computations agreeable to the course 
of the moon in the heavens. For though in the space of 
nineteen years the moon returns to have her conjunction 
with the sun on the same days ; yet those conjunctions 
fall out about an hour and a half earlier in the succeeding 
nineteen years than they did in the foregoing ; which, as 
has been calculated, makes a whole day's difference in a 
litde more than three hundred and twelve years. There- 
fore the computists have once in a little more than that 
time changed the old course of the Epacts. and substituied 
another in its room: to which cause it is owing that they 
still notify the new moons to us according to the real con- 
junction of the luminaries in the heavens, and have not 
failed us, as the Golden Numbers have done. 

13 The reason of which is, because from March inclusive. But this is 

the Epact increaseth every year to be understood only of the 

eleven days, which being almost months that follow March, and not 

one day for every month , therefore of those that go before it. 
we add the number of the month 



52 Of the Tables and Rules. 

Chap. I. 



Sect. V. 0/ the Cycle of the Dominical I etters^ commonly 
called the Cycle of the Sun, 

'^j^^^^i^'® J HE Cycle of the Sun is very iaiproperlv so called, since 
of the Sun ., | . -^ ^*'^ ., r*L a l . .l 

improperly ^^ relates not to the course or the bun, but to the course 

so called, of the Dominical or Sunday letter, and ought therefore 

to be called the Cycle of the Sunday letter. 
The use of §• ^* ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ Cjcle arises from the custom of 
the Cycle, assigning in the calendar to each day of the week one of 
the first seven letters of the alphabet: A being always 
affixed to January the first, whatever day of the week it 
be ; B to January the second, C to January the third, and 
so in order, G to January the seventh. After w^hich the 
same letters are repeated again ; A being affixed to Janua- 
ry the eighth, and so on. According to this method, there 
being fifty-two weeks in a year, the said letters are re- 
peated fifty-two times ifi the calendar. And were there 
just fifty-two weeks, the letter G would belong to the last 
day of the year, as the letter A does to the first; and 
consequently that letter which was at first constituted the 
Sunday letter (and the same is to be understood of the 
other days of the week) would always have been so ; and 
there would have been no change of the Sunday letter. 
But one year consisting of fifty-two weeks and an odd day 
over; hence it comes to pass, that the letter A belongs to 
the last, as well as to the first day of every year. For 
although every Leap-year consists of three hundred and 
sixty-six days, i. e, of two days over fifty-two weeks, yet 
it is not usual to add a letter more, viz. B, at the end of 
the year ; but instead thereof to repeat the letter C, which 
stands against February the twenty-eighth, and affix it 
again to the intercalated day, February the twenty-ninth". 
By which means the said seven letters of the alphabet re- 
main affixed to the same days of a leap-year, as of a com- 
mon year, through all the whole calendar both before and 
after. The letter A then thus always belonging to the last 
day of the old year, and first of the new, it thence comes 
to pass, that there is a change made as to the Sunday letter 

14 In the common almanacks the our church at present ?eems to make 

letter F is set against the twienty- the twenty-ninth of February the 

fourth and tweuty-fifth, the twenty- intercalated day, as shall be shew- 

fourth havmg been formerly ac- ed hereafter, when I treat of the 

Counted the intercalary day : but time of keeping St. Matthias's day. 



Of the Tables and Rules. 53 

in a "backward order ; i. e. supposing G to be the Sunday Part I. 
letter one year, F will be so the next, and so on. — ; 

§. 3. Now were there but this single change, Sunday '^single 
would be denoted by each of the seven letters every seven thrSnnday 
years, and so the cycle of the Sunday letter would consist letter in the 
of no more than seven years. But now there being in common 
every fourth or leap-year two days above fifty-two weeks ; Y^^^^ ^" „g 
hence it comes to pass that there is every such year a ,„ leap 
double change made as to the Sunday letter. For as the years. 
odd single day above fifty-two weeks in a common year, 
makes the first Sunday in January to shift from that which 
was the Sunday letter in the foregoing year, to the next 
letter to it in a backward order ; so a day being interca- 
lated every leap year afthe end of February, and the letter 
C being affixed to the twenty-ninth, as well as to the 
twenty-eighth day ot that month, does also make the first 
Sunday in March lo shift from that which was the Sunday 
letter in February, to the next letter to it in a retrograde 
order. So that if in a leap year F be the Sunday letter for 
January and February, E will be the Sunday letter for all 
the rest of the j'ear. and D for the year following. By why the 
reason of which double change in every fourth or leap cycle con- 
year, it comes to pass that the cycle of the Sunday letter "*** ®^ 
consists of four times seven years ; i, e. it does not proceed eightyears. 
in the same course it did before, till after twenty-eight 
years : but after that number of years, its course or order 
is the same as it was before. 

§. 4. To find out the Sunday letter for any year of the How to 
Julian cycle, we must do thus : to the year of our Lord ^^'^ ^^^^ 
we must add 9, (for the aera of Christ began in the tenth LetteJ"*"^^ 
year of the cycle,) and then divide the sum by 28. ]f any 
of the dividend remains, the said remainder shews the year 
of the cycle sought ; if nothing remains of the dividend, 
then it is the last or twenty-eignth year of the cycle. And 
the Dominical Letter according to the New Stile is at 
present, and will be for some years to come, the third in 
a backward order of the letters from the Julian^® ; as may 
be seen by the annexed Table of the Julian cycle of the 
Sun, and of the correspondmg Sunday letters in the new 
account. r 

15 Bede expressed the retrograde order of the Dominical Letter in 
this verse, G randia F rendet E quus^ D wm C emit B elliger A rma. 

16 Till the year 1800, when it will be the second. 



54 



Of the Tables and Rules, 



Chap I. 



Year of 

the 
Cycle 



Julian 
Domi- 
nical 
Letters 



1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

10 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

2a 



GF 

E 

D 

C 
BA 

G 

F 

E 
DC 

B 

A 

G 
FE 

D 

C 

B 
AG 

F 

E 

D 
CB 

A 

G 

F 
ED 

C 

B 

A 



Year of 

our 

Lord. 



1756 
1757 
1758 
1759 
1760 
1761 
1762 
1763 
1764 
1765 
1766 
1767 
1768 
1769 
1770 
1771 
1772 
1773 

i7r4 

1775 
1776 
1777 
1778 
1779 
1780 
1781 
17S2 
17,i3 



Domin. 
Letters 

New- 
Stile. 



~ For it is to be observed 
A TABLE of the Cycle of'with respect to these two 
the SUN. Tables or Cycles^ that the 

former or JuHan table would 
serve for ever ; but that the 
latter will serve only for the 
present century^"^ : to explain 
the reason of this we must 
take notice again, that as the 
Julian solar year has been 
found to be too long by 
about three quarters of an 
hour in four years, or a 
whole day in about one hun- 
dred and thirty-three years, 
or three days in four hun- 
dred years ; it hath been 
contrived to suppress three 
ays in every four hundred 
years : which is ordered to 
be done by making only 
those hundredth years of 
our Lord, which may be 
divided into even hundreds 
by 4, to be bissextile or leap 
years ; and all other hun- 
dredth years which cannot 
be so divided, (which are al- 
so leap years in the Julian ac- 
count) to be deemed common 
years. In consequence of 
which the year of our Lord 
.r:00, not being divisible in- 
to even hundreds by 4, vvill 
be acommon year with only 

one Sunday letter ; and as 

the like will happen three times in every four hundred 
years, it will require a table o(fmr hundred years to shew 
all the changes of the Dominical letters that can happen 
according to the new accountis. 



DC 

B 

A 

G 
FE 

D 

C 

B 
AG 

F 

E 

D 
CB 

A 

G 

F 
ED 

C 

B 

A 
G F 

E 

D 

C 
B A 

G 

F 

E 



17 See a rule to find the Sunday 
letter New Stile, both for this cen- 
tury and the next, in the Table for 
findint; Ea«ter-day till 1899. 

18 The Editors have been favour- 



ed with a copy of such a table, 
drawn up by W. Rivet, of (he Inner 
Temple. Esq. wh ch they have 
printed on the nt^xt pagt, beHeving 
it will be acceptable to the Reader. 



Of the Tables and Rules, 
A GENERAL TABLE, 



55 



Shewing, by inspection, all the Dominical Letters 
that have been since the correction of the Julian Cal- 
endar by Pope Gregory XI II. which took place from 
the ides of Oct. 15o2, or that can occur in any future 
times. 



Part. I. 





1 AG 


CB 


ED 


GF 


BA 


DC 


FE 


0^ 


F. E. D. 


A. G. F. 


G. B. A. 


E, D. C. 


G. F. E. 


B. A. G. 


D.C.B. 


1584 


ns 


92 


96 










1 


" 






, , 


1600 

28 


4 
32 


8 

36 


1812 


16 


20 


24 


40 


44 


4ci 


52 


56 


60 


64 


1 


68 
96 


72 


76 


80 


84 


88 


92 


1 










r 


. . . i - « - 








1704 
32 


1708 


i2 


16 


20 


24 


28 


3G 


40 


44 


48 


52 


56 


60 




64 
. 92 


68 


72 


76 


80 


84 


88 




96 






















i804 

32 


8 


12 


16 


20 


24 


23 


'^ 


36 


40 


44 


48 


52 


b^ 


60 


64 


68 


72 


76 


80 


84 




8b 


92 


96 


. . . 
















• 1 • 


1904 


8 


12 


16 


20 


24 


3 


28 


32 


36 


40 


44 


48 


52 


s 


56 


60 


64 


68 


72 


76 


80 




84 


88 


92 


96 












1 










2000 


i /i\ \\\ 


• * 








.. ' 



By the Julian calendar the Dominical Letters for the 
year 15H0 were C B, for 1581 A, and for 1582 (the second 
year after bissextile) the letter G. Consequently as Oc- 
tober in that year began on a Monday, the fourth of that 
month must be Thursday ; and the next natural day, 
which was reckoned the fifteenth {[en days being then 
dropped) was Friday ; the sixteenth nominal day of course 



56 Of the Tables and Rules, 

Chap. I. ^TQs Saturday, and Sunday falling on the seventeenth, 
the Dominical Letter then changed to C : and from that 
day all subsequent Dominical Letters take their revolu- 
tions. 

On this plan the foregoing table was formed ; wherein 
observe, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not particu- 
larly expressed, they being accounted as common years, 
that have but one Dominical Letter each ; viz. c for 
1 700, E for 1 800, and g for 1900. All the years express- 
ed in the table are bissextile, or leap years, and have two 
Dominical Letters placed at the head of their respective 
columns; as for the years 1600, 1628, 1656, and 1684, 
the Dominical Letters were B A, and so of the rest. 

The letters for the first, second, and third years after 
every bissextile, are the three single letters placed under 
the double letters, in the same column with the bissextile 
they immediately follow. For example, as the Domini- 
cal Letters for 1600 were B A, so the Dominical Letter 
for 1601 was g, for 1602 f, and for 1603 e. So fori 796 
the Dominical Letters will be CB; consequently 1797, 
1798, and I 799 must have a, g, and f: and the letter for 
1800 (which is to be accounted a common year) will be 
e; therefore 1801, 1802, and 1803 must have the subse- 
quent letters d, c, and b ; and then 1 804, being bissextile, 
will come under the letters A G : and from thence every 
fourth year will be leap year to 1896 inclusive. 

The Dominical Letters of each century expressed in the 
table, will be the same again after a revolution of four 
hundred j^ears ; wherefore, if you divide any given hun- 
dredth year by 4, and nothing remains, it is a bissextile 
hundred ; and the whole century from thence will have 
the same letters throughout as the seventeenth century, 
beginning from 1 600. If one remains, it will be governed 
by the eighteenth century j if 2, by the nineteenth : and 
if three, by the twentieth century, beginning from 1900. 

EXAMPLES. 

If the Dominical Letter for 2484 be required ; divide 
24 by 4, and nothing will remain ; therefore look in the 
seventeenth century for 1684, and you will find it under 
B A, which must be the Dominical Letters for the year 
required. 

So for the year 8562; let 85 be divided by 4, and the 
remainder will be 1 ; wherefore the Dominical Letter 



Of the Calendar. 57 

may be found in the eighteenth century, being the same ^^rt II . 
as for ir62, viz. c. ^ — — 

If it be required to know the Dominical Letter for the 
year 5400 ; divide 54 by 4, and the remainder will be 2, 
denoting it to be the second after a bissextile hundred, 
and consequently the given year must have the same let- 
ter as the year 1800 ; from which the nineteenth century 
begins, viz, e. the fourth single letter after the bissextile 
year T96, 

Lastly, if the Dominical Letter for 3503 be required ; 
as 35 divided by 4 leaves 3, it will be the same with 1903, 
which will be found to be d by counting from lH9b, the 
bissextile next preceding it; as i900 will be a common 

y^^r. 

And since, after dividing the hundreds in any given 
year of our Lord by 4, there will remain either 0, 1,2, 
or 3, so any question of this kind will be resolved by 
finding in the table the Sund.iy Letter or Letters of the 
corresponding year in such of the four centuries, as is 
analagous to that of the question proposed.* 



CHAP. L PART IL 
OF THE CALENDAR. 

The Introduction. 



L Having said what I thought requisite in order to qi^^^, i, 
explain the Tables and Rules before and after the Calen- Part il. 

dar, 1 shall now proceed to treat, in as little compass as 

I can, of the Calendar itself. It consists of several columns ; The co- 
concerning the first of which, as it only shews the days of Jj^g^^^f fhe 
the month in their numerical order, 1 need say nothing; month and 
and of the second^ which contains the letters of the alpha- week, 
bet affixed to the several days of every week, I have 
already said as much in the former part of this chapter, 
as was necessary to shew the use and design of their be- 
ing placed here. 

11. The third column (as printed in the larger Com- , 
mon Prayer Books) has the Calends^ Kones, and Ides^ lumo^ofca- 
which was the method of computation used by the old lends, &c. 
Romans and primitive Christians, instead of the days of 

* Bv a resolution of the General Convention of the Protestant Episco- 
pal Church in the United States, in May 1820, the Calendar, and tables 
pn fixed thereto, are to be revised, and the table of the days on which 
EasttT will fad, i.s to be extpridttd for two Cycles of the moon from the 
year of our Lord 1813.— »4!m. Ed 



58 Of the Calendar, 

Chan. T. ^j^p rnonth, and is still uj^efui to those who read either ec- 
clesiastiral or profane histor^^. But this waj of con puta- 
tion bring now grown into disuse ; and this column l-cing 
also omitted in most small editions of the Common Pra^^er 
Book, (though without authority,) there is no need that 1 
should enter into the particulars of it. 
The CO- ^^^* Neither is there occasion that I should say any 

liiinns of thing here concerning the/our last columns of the calen- 
lessons. dar, w^hich contain the Course of Lessons for morning and 
. evening prayer for ordinary da^^s throughout the year ; 
since the course of lessons both for ordinary days and Sun- 
days, &c. will come under consideration in a more proper 
place hereafter. 
„,, ] V. So that nothing remains to be treated of here, but 

luinn v)f the Colvmn of Holy-days ; and as many of these too as are 
hoij-dajs. observed by the Church of England. I shall speak to in 
the fifth chapter. But then as to the Popish Holy-days 
retained in our calendar,* I shall have no fairer opportu- 
nity of treating of them than in this place. And there- 
fore, since some small account of these has been desired 
by some persons, I shall here insert it, to gratify their 
curiosity. 
T'oe rea- Of the Romish Saints days and Holy-days in general. 

sons why ThE reasons why the names of these Saints-days and 
hoi frv^^,^ holy-days were resumed into the calendar are vari- 
ar^ revaln- o^'s. Some of them being retained upon account of our 
ed in our C-iurts of Justice^ which usually make their returns on 
Calendai. these days, or else upon the days before or after them, 
which are called in the writs, Vigil. Fest, or Crast, as in 
Vigil. Martin ; Fest Martin ; Crast. Martin ; and the like. 
Others are probably kept in the calendar for the sake of 
such tradesmen, handicrnftsmcn, and others, as are wont 
to relebrate the memory of their tutelar Saints : as the 
Welchmen do of St. TInvid, the Shoemakers of St. Crispin, 
&c. And again, Churches being in several places dedi- 
cated to some or other of these Saints, it has been the 
usual custom in <urh places to have Hakes or Fairs kept 
upon t ose days: so that the people would probably be 
displeased, if, either in this or the former case, their fa- 
vourite S»ini's name should be kft out of the calendar. 
Besides, the histories which were writ before the Re- 
formation do frequently speak of transactions happening 
upon such a holy-day, or about such a time, without 
mentioning the month ; relating one thing to be done at 
"^ These are omitted in the Calendar of the American Prayer Book. 



Of the Calendar, 59 

Lammas-lide, and another about 3/aWmmcf5.&:c. so that Part. II. 
were these names quite left out of the calf ndar. we might 
be at a loss to know when several of these transactions 
happened. But for this and the foregoing reasons our se- 
cond reformers under Queen Elizabeth (though all those 
days had been omitted in both books of King Edward VI. 
excepting St. George's Day, Lammas Day, St. Laurence 
and St. Clement, which were in his second book) thought 
convenient to restore the names of them to the cahndar, 
though not with any regard of being kept holy by the 
Church. For this they thought prudent to forbid, as rjutnot 
well upon the account of the great inconveniency brought kept holy, 
into the Church in the times of Popery, by the o')serva- 
tion of such a number of holy days, to the great preju- 
dice of labouring and trading men ; as by reason that 
many of those Saints they then commemorated were 
oftentimes men of none of the best characters. Besides, 
the history of these Saints, and the accounts they gave of 
the other holy-days, were frequently tound to be feigned 
and fabulous. For which reason, I suppose, th.^ gene- 
rality of my readers would excuse my giving them or my- 
self any farther trouble upon this head : but bein^ sensi- 
ble that there are some people who are particularly desi- 
rous of this sort of information, I shall for their sak^^s 
subjoin a short account of every one of these holy-days as 
they lie in their order : but must first bespeak my reader 
not to think that 1 endeavour to impose all these stories 
upon him as truths ; but to remember that I have already 
given him warning that a great part of the account will 
be feigned and fabulous. And therefore I presume he 
will excuse my burdening him with testimonies ; since 
though I could bring testimonies for every thing: 1 shall 
say, yet I cannot promise that they will be convincing. 
But, however, I promise to invent nothing of my own, 
nor to set down any thing but what some or other of 
the blind Romanists superstitiously believe. 

Sect. I, Of the Romish >>aints-days and Holy-days in 
January, 

LUCIAN (to whose memory the eighth day of this January 8, 
month was dedicated) is said by some to have been a |; "^ ^"^ 
disciple of St. Peter, and to have been sent by him with a,?d^Ma7- 
St. Dennys into France, where, for preaching the Gospel, tjr. 
he suffered martyrdom. Though others relate that he 
was a learned presbyter of Antioch, well versed in the 



60^. Of the Calendar. 

6kap. I. Hebrew tongue, taking a great deal of pains in compar- 
~ ing and amending the copies of the Bible. Being long 
exercised in the sacred discipline, he was brought to the 
city of the Nicomedians, when the Emperor Galerius 
Maximianus was there ; and having recited an apology 
for the Christian Religion, which he had composed, be- 
fore the governor of the city, he was cast into prison ; ^nd 
having endured incredible tortures, was put to death^^ 
lo.HParj, §• 2. i/i/ar?/. Bishop of Poictiers in France, ^comme- 
Bishopand morated on the thirteenth of this month,) was a great 
Confesior. champion of the catholic doctrine against the Arians ; 
for which he was persecuted by their party, and banishod 
into Phrygia about the year 3 ;6, where, after n^uch pains 
taken in the controversy, and many troubles underwent, 
he died about the year 367. 

§. 3. Prisca. a Roman lady, commemorated on the 
18. Prisca. eighteenth, was early converted to C^hristianity: but re- 
Vir^in and ^'^^ing to abjure her religion, and to offer sacrifice when 
Martyr. she was commanded, was horibly tortured, and after- 
wards beheaded under the Emperor Claudius, A. D. 47. 
SO.Fabian, §• ^' Fabian was Bishop of Rome about fourteen years, 
Bishop and VIZ. from A. D. 239 to 253, and suffered martyrdom un- 
Martjr. (]er the Emperor Decius. 

§. 5. Mgnes, a young Roman lady of a noble family, 
Roman"^^' suffered martyrdom in the tenth general persecution un- 
Virgin and der the EmptTor Dioclesian, A. D. 306. She was by the 
Martyr. wicked cruelty of the judge condemned to be debauched 
in a public stew before her execution ; but was miracu- 
lously preserved by lightning and thunder from heaven. 
She underwent her persecution with wonderful readiness, 
and though the executioner hacked and hewed her body 
most unmercifully with the sword, yet she bore it with 
incredible constancy, singing hymns all the time, th )Ugh 
she was then no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. 
About eight days after her execution, her parents going 
to lament and pray at her tomb, where they continued 
watching all night, it is reported that there appeared unto 
them a vision of angels, arrayed with glittering and glo- 
rious garments ; among whom they saw their own daugh- 
ter appareled after the same manner, and a Lamb stand- 
^hy ^"to ^y ^^^ ^^ white as snow ; (which is the reason why 

painted the painters picture her with a lamb by her side.) Ever 
J^'^'' ^ after which time the Roman ladies went every year (as 
he^r side^ they still do) to offer and present her on this day the two 
19 Euseb. Histor. Eccl. 1. ix.c. 6.p,351. C 



Of the Calendar. 61 

best and purest white lambs they could procure. These Part U. 

they offered at St. Agnes^s altar, (as they call it,) and from ^- 

thence the Pope gives orders to have them put into the 
choicest pasture about the city, till the time of sheep- 
shoaring come ; at which season they are dipt, and the 
wool is hallowed, whereof a fine white cloth is spun and 
woven, and consecrated every year by the Pope himself, 
for the Palls which he used to send to every Arch- '^^^ ?"Si* 
bishop ; and which till they have purchased at a most Trchbish- 
extravagant price, they cannot exercise any metropoliti- ops Palls, 
cal jurisdiction. 

§. ti. Vincent^ a Deacon of the church in Spain, was ^^' ^'°" 
born at Oscard, now Huezza, d town in Arragon. He ^Ta^on of 
was instructed in divmity by Valerius, Bishop of Sarago- Spain and 
sa ; but, by reason of an impediment in his speech, never Martyr, 
took upon him the office of preaching. He suffered mar- 
tyrdom in the Dioclesian persecution about the year 303, 
being laid all along upon burning coals, and, after his 
body was broiled there, thrown upon heaps of broken 
tiles. 

Sect. II. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in 
February, 

BLASSIUS was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, reported February 
to have been a man of great miracles and power, put Bis^o^^and 
to death in the same city by Agricolaus the president, un- Marty^r^" 
der Dioclesian the Emperor, in the year 289. His name 
is not put down in some editions of the Common Prayer 
Book, but it occurs in the most authentic. 

§. 2. Agatha^ a virgin honourably born in Sicily, suf- 5. Agatha, 
fered martyrdom under Decius the Emperor at Catanea. ^^^ic'lian 
Being very beautiful, Quintianus, the Praetor or Governor MZtyr!"" 
of the province, was enamoured with her: but not being 
able to work his ill design upon her, ordered her to be 
scourged, and then imprisoned, for not worshipping the 
heathen gods. After which, she, still persisting constant 
in the faith, was put upon the rack, burnt with hot irons, 
and had her breast cut off. And then being remanded 
back to prison, she had several divine comforts afforded 
her : but the Praetor sending for her again, being half 
dead, she prayed to God to receive her soul ; with which 
petition she immediately expired ; it being the fifth of 
February, A. D. 253. 14 Valen 

§.3. Fa/en^we was an ancient presbyter of the Church; tine, Bish- 
he suffered martyrdom under Claudius at Rome. Being op and 

* MartTr. 



62 Of the Calendar, 

Chap. I. delivered into the custody of one Asterius. he wrought a 
' miracle upon his daughter ; whom, being blind, he re- 

stored to sight ; by which means he converted the whole 
family to Christianity, who all of them afterwards suffered 
for their religion. V'aleiitine, after a year's imprisonment 
at Rome, was beheaded in the Fiaminian-way about the 
year 271, and was enrolled amo.ig the martyrs of the 
Church ; his day being established before the fmes of 
Gregory the Great. He was a man of most admirable 
The origi- parts, and so famous for his love and charity, that the 
"u^ °5 custom of choosing Valentines upon his festival (which is 
Vakntmes, ^^^^^ practised) took its rise from thence. 

Sect. III. Of the Romish Sainls-days and Holy-days in 
March, 

March 1. DAVID, to whose memory the first of this month was 
^^V^''- , formerly dedicated, was descended from the royal fa- 
opofMen- ^^''y of the Briions, being uncle to the great King Ar- 
evia. thur, and son of Xantus Prince of Wales, by one Mele- 

aria, a Nun. He was a man very learned and eloquent, 
and of incredible austerity in his life and conversation. 
By his diligence Pelagian ism was quite rooted out, and 
many earnest professors of the same converted unto the 
truth. He was made Bishop of Caerleon in Wales, which 
see he afterwards removed to Menevia ; from him ever 
since called St. David's. He sat long viz. sixty-five 
years, and (having built twelve monasteries in the coun- 
try thereabouts) died in the year 642 : being, as Bale 
writes out of the British histories, a hundred and forty -six 
years old. He was buried in his own cathedral church, 
and canonized by Pope Calixtus II, about five hundred 
years afterwards. Many things are reported of him in- 
credible ; as that his birth was fortold thirty years be- 
fore-hand ; and that he was always attended by angels 
who kept him company ; that he bestowed upon the wa- 
ters at Bath that extraordinary heat they have ; and that 
whilst he was once preaching to a ^reat multitude of 
people at Bronj^, the ground swelled under his feet into a 
little hill; with several other such stories not worth re- 
hearsing. 
2. Cedde §• ^* Cedde was, in the absence of Wilfride Archbishop 
or Cliad, of York, who was gone to Paris for consecration, and 
Bi-,ho{) of gave no hopes of a speedy return, enforced by Egfrid 
Litchfield. j^Ij^^ ^^^ Northumberland to accept of that see. But 
Wilfride being returned, Cedde was persuaded by Theo- 



Of the Calendar. 03 

dorus Archbishop of Canterbury to resign the see to him : ^^^^ Jb 

after which for some time he Uved a monastical life at 

Lestingeag; till, by the means of ihe same Theodoru?, 
he was made Bishop of Litchfield, under Wolfhere, King 
of Mercia, whom he is said to have converted. He died 
M^irch 2, A. D. f:72. 

§.3. Perpetua was a lady of quality, who suffered mar- "7. Perpet- 
tyrJoni in Mauritania, under the Emperor Severus, about ^'.*; aMau- 
the year 20 >. She is often very honourably mentioned Martyr, 
by Tcrtullian and St. Austin; the last of whom lets us 
know that the day of her martyrdom was settled into a 
holy-day in his time ; and remarks of her, that she gave 
suck to a yoJing child at the time of her sufferings. 

§. 4. Gregory the Great, who stands next in the calen- ^2. Greg- 
dar, was descended from noble parents. He very early qJ^II^^ 
addicted himself to study and piety, giving all his estate Bishop of 
to the building and maintaining of religious houses. He Rome aiid 
was consecrated Pope about the year ;;0?U but vigorously Confessor, 
opposed the titb- o^ universal Bishop (which the Bishops 
of Constantinople did then, and the Bishops of Rome do 
now assume) as blasphemous, antichristian, and diabolical. 
Among other his glorious and Christian deeds, his me- 
mory was annually celebrated here in England, for his 
devout charity to our nation, in sending Austin the monk, 
with forty other missionaries, to convert the Saxons, (who 
had testified their desire to embrace Christianity,) which 
in a short time they happily achieved. Having held the 
Popedom fourteen years, he died about the year 604, 
leaving many learned books behind him, which are still 
extant. 

§. 5. Edward was descended from the West Saxon 18. Ed- 
Kings, and the son of King Edgar, who first reduced the ^r^^^'-S'"f 
HeptRrchy into one kingdom : after whose death, in the saxon*. 
year 975, this Edward succeeded to the crown at twelve 
years of age, but did not enjoy it above two or three 
years. For paying a vi,<it to Elfride his mother in-law at 
Corfe-castle. in Dorsetshire, he was by her order stabbed 
in the back, (whilst he was drinking a cup of wine,) to 
make way for her son Etheldred, his half-brother. His 
favour to the monks made his barbarous murder to be 
esteemed a martj^rdom ; the day of v\ hich was appointed 
to be kept festival by Pope Innooent IV. A. D. 1245. 

§. 6. Benedict was born in Norria, a town in Italy, of 21. Bene- 
an honourable family. Being much given to devotion, ^J^^*' ^^' 
he setup an order of monks, which bears his name, about 
the year 529. He was very remarkable for his mortifica- 



64 Of the Calendar. 

Chap I. tion ; and the monks of his own rder relate, that he 
"'"' would often roll hiraseit in a heap of briars to ch>.(.k any 

carnal desires that he found to arise in himself. St. Greg- 
ory 20 tells us of a very famous uiirac le wrought upon his 
account, viz. That the Goths, when they inv ided Itrdy, 
came to burn his cell ; and being set on fire, it burnt 
round him in a circle, not doing him the least hurt : at 
which the Goths being enraged, threw him into a hot 
oven, stopping it up close : but coming the next day, they 
found him safe, neither his flesh schorched, nor his clothes 
singed. He died on the twenty -first of March, A. D. 542. 

Sect. IV. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in 

April. 

Aprils. Richard, sumamed Je Wiche^ from a place so called 
R.chard, jj^ Worcestershire, where he was born, was brought 
Chiobes- "P ^^ the universities of Oxford and Paris, Being come 
ter. to man's estate, he travelled to Bononia ; where having 

studied the canon law sevenyears, he became public read- 
er of the same. Being returned home, he w^as, in the va- 
cancy of the see of Chichester, chosen Bishop by that 
chapter : which the King opposing, (he having nominated 
another,) Richard appealed to Rome, and had his election 
confirmed by the Pope, who consecrated him also at Ly- 
ons, in the year J 245. He was very much reverenced 
for his great learning and diligent preaching, but espe- 
cially for his integrity of life and conversation. Strange 
miracles are told of him : as that, by his blessing, he in- 
creased a single loaf of bread to satisfy the hunger of three 
thousand poor people; and that in his extreme old age, 
whilst he was celebrating the Eucharist, he fell down 
with the chalice in his hand, but the wine was miracu- 
lously preserved fi om falling to the ground. About seven 
or eight years after his death, he was canonized for a 
saint by Pope Urban IV. A. D, 1261. 
Am- 5' ^" ^^' ^'^^^'^^^ ^^^s born about the year 340. His 

brose, father was Praetorian Praefect of Gaul, in whose palace 
Bishop of St. Ambrose was educated. It is reported, that in his in- 
Milaa. fancy a swarm of bees settle^! upon his cradle; which 
was a prognostication, as was supposed, of his future elo- 
quence. After his father's death, he went with his mo- 
ther to Rome, where he studied the laws, practised as an 
Advocate, and was made Govfjrnor of Milan and the 

2l> Greg". Dial. lib. iii. 



Of the Calendar. Qi» 

ueighboiiring cities. Upon the death of Auxentius, Bi- Part II. 

shop of Milan, there being a great contest in the election 

of a new Bishop, this good father, in an excellent speech, 
exhorted them to peace and unaniQiity ; which so nnoved 
the affections of the people, that they immediately forgot 
the competitors whom they were so zealous for before, 
and unanimously declared that they would have their Go- 
vernor for their Bishop. Who, after several endeavours 
by flight and other artifices to avoid that burden, was at 
last compelled to yield to the importunities of the people, 
and to be consecrated Bishop. From which time he gave 
all his money to pious uses, and settled the reversion of 
his estate upon the church. He governed that see with 
great piety and vigilance for more than twenty years, and 
died in the year 396, being about fifty-seven years old : 
having first converted St. Augustin to the faith ; at whose 
baptism he is said miraculously to have composed that 
divine hymn, so well known in the church by the name of 
Te Deum, 

§. 3. Alplugt was an Englishman of a most holy and |g ^|^ 
austere life, which was the more admirable in him, be- phege, 
cause he was born of great parentage, and began that Archbish- 
course of life in his younger years. He was first Abbot ^P/*^ ^^^^ 
of Bath, then Bishop of Winchester, in the year 9554, and 
twelve years afterwards Archbishop of Canterburj^ But 
in the year 1012, the Danes being disappointed of a cer- 
tain tribute which they claimed as due to them, they fell 
upon Canterbury, and spoiled and burnt both the city and 
church : nine parts in ten of the people they put to the 
sword, and after seven months miserable imprisonment, 
stoned the good Archbishop to death at Greenwich ; who 
was thereupon canonized for a saint and martyr, and had 
the nineteenth of April allowed him as his festival. 

§. 4. St. George^ the famous patron of the English na- 
tion, was born in Capadocia, and suftered for the sake of ^^' ^^'"* 
his religion, A. D. 290, under the Emperor Dioclesian, Martyr 
(in whose army he had before been a Colonel,) being sup- 
posed to have been the person that pulled down the edict 
against the Christians, which Dioclesian had caused to be 
aliixed upon the church doors^^ The Legends relate se- 
veral strange stories of him, which are so common, they 
need not here be related : I shall only give a short 
account how he came to be so much esteemed of in 



' 



England. 



21. See Lactantins de Mortibus Persecntorum. 

H 



66 



Of the Calendar. 



ttbap. I. When Robert Duke of Normandy, son to William the 

■ Conquerer,vvas prosecuting his victories against the Turks^ 

How he ^^^ laying siege to the famous city of Antioch, which 
])atron of was like to be relieved hy a mighty army of the Saracens ; 
iheEng- St. George appeared with an innumerable army coming 
hsh. down from the hills all in white, with a red cross in his 

banner, to reinforce the Christians ; which occasioned the 
infidel army to fly, and the Christians to possess themselves 
of the town. This story made St. George extraordinary 
famous in those times, and to be esteemed a patron, not 
only of the English, but of Christianity itself. Not but 
that St. George was a considerable Saint before this, hav- 
ing had a church dedicated to him by Justinian the Em- 
peror. 



May S, 
Invention 
of the 

Cross. 



G.St. John 
Evfin<. an- 
te Port. 
Lit. 



Sect. V. Of the Romish Saints-days and holy-days in 

May, 
The third of this month is celebrated as a festival by 
the Church of Rome, in memory of the invention of the 
Cross, which is said to be owing to this occasion. He- 
lena, the mother of Constantine the Great, being admo- 
nished in a dream to search for the Cross of Christ at Je- 
rusalem, took a journey thither with that intent : and 
having employed labourers to dig at Golgotha, after 
opening the ground ver}^ deep, (for vast heaps of rubbish 
had purposely been thrown there by the spiteful Jews or 
Heathens,) she found three crosses, which she presently 
concluded were the crosses of our Saviour and the two 
thieves who were crucified with him. But being at a loss 
to know which was the Cross of Christ, she ordered 
them all three to be applied to a dead person. Two of 
them, the story says, had no effect ; but the third raised 
the carcase to life, which was an evident sign to Helena., 
that That was the cross she looked for. As soon as this 
was known, every one was for getting a piece of the 
Cross; insomuch that in Paulinus's time (who, being a 
scholar of St. Ambrose, and Bishop of Nola, flourished 
about the year 420) there was much more of thereliques 
of the Cross, than there was of the original wood. 
Whereupon that father says, " it was miraculously in- 
" creased ; it very kindly afforded wood to men's impor- 
" tunate desires, without any loss of its substance," 

§. 2. The sixth of this month was anciently dedicated 
to the memory of St. John the Evangelist's miraculous 
deliverance from the persecution of Domitian : to whom 



Oftht Calendar, 67 

being accused as an eminent assertcr of atheism and im- Pa^"* im- 
piety, and a public subverter of the religion of the em- - 

pire, he was sent for to Rome, where he w^as treated with 
all the cruelty that could be expected from so bloody and 
barbarous a prince ; for he was immediately put into a 
cauldron of boihns^ oil, or rather oil set on fire, before the 
gate called Porta Latina^ in the presence of the senate. 
But his Master and Lord, who favoured him when on 
earth above all the Apostles, so succoured him here, that 
he felt no harm from the most violent rage ; but, as if he 
had been only anointed, like the athletas of old, he came 
out more vigorous and active than before : the same di- 
vine Providence that secured the three children in the 
fiery furnace, bringing the holy man safe out of this, one 
would think, inevitable destruction ; and so vouchsafing 
him the honour of martyrdom, without his enduring the 
torments of it. 

§. 3. Dunslan^ of whom we are next to speak, was well ^9, Dun- 
extracted, being related to King Athelstan. He was very uj^uq'^'^^" 
well skilled in most of the liberal arts, and among the rest Qanier- 
in refining metals and forging them ; which being qualifi- hmy. 
cations much above the genius of the age he lived in, first 
gained him the name of a couiuror, and then of a saint. 
He was certainly a very honest man, and never feared to 
reprove vice in any of the kings of the West Saxons, of 
whom he was confessor to four successively. But the 
monks ( to whom he was a very great friend, applying all 
his endeavours to enrich them and their monasteries) have 
filled his life with several nonsensical stories : such as are, 
his making himself a cell at Glastenburg all of iron at his 
own forge ; his harp's playing of itself, without a hand ; 
his taking a she-devil, who tempted him to lewdness un- 
der the shape of a fine lady, by the nose with a pair of 
red-hot tongs ; and several other such ridiculous relations 
not worth repeating. He was promoted by king Edgar, 
first to the bishopric of Worcester, soon after to London, , 

and two years after that to Canterbury. Where having I 

sat twenty-seven years, he died May 19, A. D. 988. 

§. 4. Augustin was the person we have already men- ^g Aureus- 
tioned, as sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the tin", first 
Saxons, from whence he got the name o^ the Apostle of Archb'sh. 
the English. Whilst he was over here, he was made Arch- ^f,.^^,^^^^" 
bishop of Canterbury, A. D. 59u. He had a contest wMth ^^^'^^'^' 
the monks of Bangor, about submission to the see of 
Rome, who refused any subjecion but to God, and the 
bishop of Caerleon. Soon after this difference, Elhelfridcj 



6J5 Oflht Calendar. 

€hap. I. a pagan king of Northumberland, invaded Wales, and 
'^ slaugntered a hundred and Rky of these monks, who came 

in a quiet manner to mediate a peace : which massacre is 
by some writers (but without just grounds) imputed to 
the instigation of Austin, in revenge for their opposition 
to him. After he had sat some time in the see of Can- 
terbury, he deceased the twenty sixth of May, about the 
year 610. 
27. Vene- §. 5. Bede was born at Yarrow, in Northumberland, 
rableEede. A. D. 673, and afterwards well educated in Greek and 
Latin studies, in which he made a proficiency beyond 
most of his age. He is author of several learned philo- 
sophical and mathematical tracts, as also of comments up- 
on the Scripture : but his most valuable piece is his Ec- 
clesiastical history of the Saxons. Being a monk, he stu- 
died in his cell ; where spending more hours, and to bet* 
ter purpose, than the monks were wont to do, a report 
was raised that he never went out of it. However, he 
"would not leave it for preferment at Rome, which the 
Pope had often invited him to. 
How he His learning and piety gained him the surname of Vene- 

got the rahk. Though the common story which goes about th&t 
A'eiiei^bl ^^^'^'^ being given him, is this : his scholars having a mind 
" to fi[x a rhyming title upon his tombstone, as was the cus- 
tom in those times, the poet wrote, 

HAG SUNT IN FOSSA, 
BED^ OSS A. 

Placing the word ossa at the latter end of the verse for 
the rhyme, but not able to think of any proper epithet that 
would stand before it. The monk being tired in this per- 
plexity to no purpose, fell asleep; but when he awaked, 
he found his verse filled up by an angelic hand, standing 
thus in fair letters upon the tomb : 

HAG SUNT IN FOSSA, 
BEDiE VENERABILIS OSSA. 

Sect, VL Of the Tlo7nish Saints-daifs and Holy-days in 

June* 
June I. N^COMEDE was scholar to St. Peter, and was disco- 
Mconjede, vered to be a Christian bv his honourably burying one 
a Roman Pelicuhi, a martyr. He was beat to death with leaden 
IWartJr.'*" plummets for the sake of his religion, in the reign of Do- 

5 Boui- Ilji^^'3"? 

f\ice, Bi'feh- §• ?• Boniface was a Saxon presbyter, born in England, 

pp oV b>iit| £|t first called Winfrid. He was sent a missionary by 

Ment«,and 
Martyr. 



Of the Calendar. 69 

Pope Gregory TI. into Germany, where he converted se- Fart, il 

vera! countries, and from thence got the name of the Apos- 

tie of Germany. He was made Bishop of Ments in the 
year 7Ab. He was one of the most considerable men of 
his time, (most ecclesiastical matters going through hi.s 
hands, as appears by his letters,) and was also a great 
friend and admirer of Bede. Carrying on his conversions 
in Frisia, he was killed by the barbarous people near 
Utrecht, A. D. 755. 

§. 8. St. Alhan was the first Christian martyr in this J'?- St Ai- 
island, about the middle of the third century. He was ban, Mai - 
converted to Christianity by one Amphialus, a priest of ^''' 
Caerleon in Wales, who flying from persecution into 
England, was hospitably entertained by St. Alban at Ve- 
lulam in Hertfordshire, now called from him St. Albans. 
When, by reason of a strict search made for Amphialus, 
v5t. Alban could entertain him safe no longer, he dressed 
him in his own clothes, and by that means gained him an 
opportunity of escaping. But this being soon found out, 
exposed St. Alban to the fury of the Pagans ; who sum- 
moning him to do sacrifice to their gods, and he refusing, 
they first miserably tormented him, and then put him to 
death. The monks have fathered several miracles upon 
him, which it is not worth while here to relate. 

§. 4. Edward King of the West Saxons being barba- 20. Trans- 
rously murdered by his mother-in-law, was first buried at laiionof 
Warham without any solemnity: but after three years J5^^^^*?\ 

. ,, T-wi.i^ '^1 • r r^\ r KlD" Of the 

was carried by Duke Alferus to the minster ot Shaltes- West 
bury, and there interred with great pomp. To the me- Saxons. 
mory of which the twentieth of June has been since de- 
dicated. 

Sect. VI I. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in 

July, 
About the year 1338, there was a terrible schism in Jnlyg, 
the Church of Rome between two anti-popes, Urban VI. Visitation 
and Clement VII. the first chosen by the Italian, the gg^^'^t^^f " 
other by the French faction among the Cardinals. Upon Mary."^ " 
this several great disorders happened. To avert which for 
the future. Pope Urban instituted a feast to the memory 
of that famous journey, which the mother of our Lord 
took into the mountains of Judea, to visit the mother of 
St. John the Baptist; that by this means the intercession 
of the blessed Virgin might be obtained for the removal 
of those evils. The same festival was confirmed by the 



70 Of the Calendar. 

<;hap. I decree oT Boniface IX. though it was not universally ob- 

served until the council of Basil: by decree of which 

council in their forty-third session, upon July 1, 144K it 
was ordered that this holy-day, called the Visitation of the 
blessed Virgin Mary^ should be celebrated in all Christian 
churches, that *'she being honoured with this solemnity, 
*' might reconcile her Son by her intercession, who is now 
" angry for the sins of men ; and that she might grant 
'• peace and unity among (.he faithful." 
-4. Transla- §• ^* '^^' -^^^^^if^ was born in Pannonia, and for some- 
fion of time lived the life of a soldier, but at last took orders, and 
St. Martin, vvas made Bishop of Tours in France. He was very dil- 
., opan |g,gp|. in breakins: down the heathen imaores and altars, 
which were standing in his time. He died in the year 
400, after he had sat bishop twenty-six years. The French 
had formerly such an esteem for his memory, that they 
carried his helmit with them into their wars, either as an 
ensign to encourage them to braverjs or else as a sort of 
charm to procure them victory. His feast-day is cele- 
brated on the eleventh of November. The fourth of this 
month is dedicated only to the memory of the translating 
or removing of his body from the place where it was bu- 
ried, to a m.ore noble and magnificent tomb; which was 
performed by Perpetuus, one of his successors in the see 
of Tours. 
15 Swi- §• ^* ^^^^^'^^ was first a monk, and afterwards a prior, 
I'hun, Bi- of the convent of Winchester. Upon the death of Helin- 
fehop of Stan Bishop of that see, by the favour of King Ethel- 
^J^^' wolph, he Avas pro noted to succeed him in that bishop- 
iranslated. rick, A. D. 852. and continued in it eleven years, to his 
death. He would not be buried within the church, as 
the Bishops then generally were, but in the cemetery, or 
church yard. Many miracles being reported to be done 
at his grave, there vvas a chapel built over it ; and a solemn 
translation made in honour of him, which in the popish 
limes was celebrated on the fifteenth of July. 

§, 4. Margaret was born at Antioch, being the daugh- 
20. Marca- (er of an heathen priest. Olybius, President of the East 
r*l Mar-" ""'^^^' the Romans, had an inclination to marry her; but 
^'tyrat Au- finding she was a Christian, deferred it till he could per- 
lioch. suade her to renounce her religion. But not being able 
to accomplish his design, he first put her to unmerciful 
torments, and then beheaded her. She has the same office 
among the papists, as Lucina has among the heathens; 
viz. to assist woinoii in labour. Her holy-day is very an- 
cient, not only in the Roman, but also in the Greek 



Oftht Calendar . 7\ 

chiireh, who celebrate her memory under the name of Part TL 
Marina. She suffered in the year 278. " 

§. 5. By the first Common Prayer Book of King Ed- 22 St. Ma- 
ward VJ. the twenty-second of July was dedicated to the ry Magda- 
memory of St. Mary Magdalene, In the service for the '*'"^' . 
day, Prov. xxxi. JO. to the end, was appointed for the J^ ^nif^^' 
Epistle ; and the Gospel was taken out of St. Luke vii. 36. Gospel, 
to the end. But upon a stricter inquiry, it appearing du- 
bious to our Reformers, as it doth still to many learned 
men, whether the woman mentioned in the Scripture, that 
was appointed for the Gospel, were Mary Magdalene or 
not ; they thought it more proper to discontinue the fes- 
tival. However, as I have mentioned the other parts of 
the service, I will also give the reader the Collect that was 
appointed, which he will observe was very apt and suit- 
able to the Gospel. 

Merciful Father^ give us grace that we never pre sv me to The Col- 
sin through the example of any creature : but if it shall chance ^^ ' 
us at any time to offend thy divine Majesty^ that then we 
may truly repent and lament the same, after the example of 
Mary Magdalene, and by a lively faith obtain remission of 
all our «ns, through the only merits of thy Son our Saviour 
Christ, Amen. 

§. 6. St. Ann was the mother of the blessed Virgin 26.St.AnD, 
Mary and the wife of Joachim her father. An ancient {jj^'blessed 
piece of the sacred genealogy, set down formerly by Hip- virgin Ma- 
politus the martyr, is preserved in Nicephorus^^ " There rj. 
" were three sisters of Bethlehem, daughters of Matthan 
" the priest, and Mary his wife, under the reign of Cleo- 
" patra and Casopares King of Persia, before the reign of 
" Herod, the son of Antipater : the eldest was Mary, the 
" second was Sobe, the youngest's name was Ann. The 
*' eldest being married in Bethlehem, had for daughter 
" Salome the midwife : Sobe the second likewise married 
*' in Bethlehem, and was the mother of Elizabeth ; last of 
" all the third married in Galilee, and brought forth Ma- 
*' ry the mother of Christ." 

Sect. VIII. Of the Romish Saints-days and holy-days in 
August, 

The first day of this month is commonly called Lam- LammL-' 
mas-day, though in the Romish church it is generally day, 
known by the name of the feast of St. Peter in the fetters, 

22 Niceph. lib. ii. cap. 3. rol. i. p. 136 A. 



72 Of the Calendar, 

Chap I. being the day of the commemoration of St. Peter's im- 

— prisonment. For Eudoxia, the wife of Theodosius the 

Emperor, having made a jouruey to Jerusalem, was there 
presented with the fetters which St. Peter was loaded 
with in prison ; which she presented to the Pope, who 
afterwards laid them up in a church built by Theodosius 
in honour of St. Peter. Eudoxia, in the mean time, hav- 
ing observed that the first of August was celebrated in 
memory of Augustus Caesar, (who had on that day been 
saluted Augustus, and had upon that account given occa- 
sion to the changing of the name of the month from Sex- 
tilis to August,) she thought it not reasonable that a holy- 
day should be kept in memory of a heathen prince, which 
would better become that of a godly martyr; and there- 
fore obtained a decree of the Emperor, that this day for 
the future should be kept holy in remembrance of St. Pe- 
ter's bonds. 
Why so The reason of its being called Lammas-day, some think 

called. was a fond conceit the popish people had, that St, Peter 
was patron of the Lambs, from our Saviours words to 
him, Fetd my lambs. Upon which account they thought 
the mass of this day very beneficial to make their lambs 
thrive. Though Somnei's account of it is more rational 
and easy, viz, that it is derived from an old Saxon word 
meaning Loaf-mass, it having been the custom of the 
Saxons to offer on that day an oblation of loaves made of 
new wheat, as the first fruits of their new corno 
6. Tramfi- §• 2. The festival of our Lord's Transfiguration in the 
guration of mount is very ancient. In the church of Rome indeed it 
our Lord, jg b^t; of late standing, being instituted by Pope Calixtus 
in the year 1455 ; but in the Greek church it was obser- 
ved long before. 
7- Naraeof §. 3. The seventh of August was formerly dedicated to 
Jesn?. the memory of A fra, a courtezan of Crete; who being 
converted to Christianity by Narcissus Bishop of Jerusa- 
lem, suffered martyrdom, and was commemorated on this 
day : how it came afterwards to be dedicated to the Name 
ofJesus^ I do not find. 
.Q g §. 4. St. Laurence was by birth a Spaniard, and Trea- 

Laurence, ^urer of the church of Rome, being Deacon to Sixtus the 
Archdea- Pope adout the year 259. When his Bishop was haled to 
con of cleath by the soldiers of Valerian the Emperor, St. Lau- 
MartyV. rence would not leave hira, but followed him to the place 
of his execution, expostulating with him all the way, " O 
" father, where do you go without your son ? You never 
"were wont to offer sacrifice without me." Soon after 



Of the Cahnddr, ?3 

which, occasion being taken against him by the greedy ^"^^ ^^; 
Pagans, for not delivering up the church-treasury, which 
they thought was in his custody, he was laid upon a grid- 
iron, and broiled over a fire : at which time he behaved 
himself with so much courage and resolution, as to cry 
out to his tormenters, that '' he was rather comforted 
" than tormented ;" bidding them withall " turn him on 
" the other side, for that was broiled enough." His mar- 
tyrdom was so much esteemed in after-times, that Pulche- 
ria the Empress built a temple to his honour, which was 
either rebuilt or enlarged by Justinian* Here was the 
gridiron on which he suffered laid up, where (if we may 
believe St. Gregory the Great, who was too credulous irt 
such kind of matters) it became famous for many mira- 
cles. 

§ 5. St. Augustin was born at Togaste^ a town in Nu- 28.St.A«- 
midia in Africa, in the year 354. He applied himself at f^"^|J"j^ ^'" 
first only to human learning, such as poetry and plays, Hippo. || 

rhetoric and philosophy ; being professor at Rome first, || 

and afterwards at Milan. At the last of these places St^ 
Ambrose became acquainted with him, who instructed 
him in divinity, and set him right as to some wrong no- 
tions which he had imbibed. He returned into Africa 
about the year 383, and three years afterwards was cho- 
sen Bishop of Hippo. He was a great and judicious di- ' 
vine, and the most voluminous writer of all the fathers* 
He died in the year 430, at seventy-severi years of agCi 

§. 6. The twenty-ninth of this month, as Durandus H'^f^^ ^^ 
says, was formerly called Festum Collectionis S, Johan. Bap- g.^jpt johii 
tist(K, or the feast of gathering up St. John the Baplisfs Baptist. 
Relics ; and afterwards by corruption, Fes^ww decoUalionis^ 
the feast of his beheading. For the occasion of the ho- 
nours done to this Saint are said to be some miraculous 
cures performed by his relics in the fourth century: for 
which reason Julian the Apostate ordered them to be 
burnt, but some of them were privately reserved. His 
liead was found after this, in the Emperor Valens's time, 
and reposited as a precious relic in a church at Constan- 
tinople. 

Sect. IX* Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in 
September* 

Giles, or Mgidlus^ was one who was born at Athens, ^*P*- ^' 
and came into France, A. D. 715. having first disposed J^otalxl 
of his patrimony to charitable uses* He lived two years Confetior. 



r4 Oflhe Calendar.' 

Chrp. T. '^vith Caesarius Bishop of Aries, and afterwards took to a»i 

" hermetical life, till he was made Abbot of an abbey at 

Nismes, which the king, who had found him in his cell 

hy chance as he was hunting, and was pleased with his 

sanctity, built for his sake. He died in the year 795. 

7. Eunur- §. 2. Eunurchus, otherwise called Evorlius^ was Bishop 
chus, Bi- of Orleans in France, being present at the council of Va- 
ulm/^'" ^^"^^^' ^' ^' ^^^' '^'^^ circumstances of his election to 

this sec were very strange. Being sent by the Church of 
Rome into France, about redeeming some captives, at the 
time when the people of Orleans were in the heat of an 
election of a bishop; a Dove lighted upon his head, which 
he could not, without great difficulty, drive away. The 
people observing this, took it for a sign of his great sanc- 
tity, and immediately thought of choosing him bishop ; 
but not being willing to proceed to election, till they 
were assured that the lighting of the Dove tvas by the im- 
mediate direction of Providence, they prayed to God that, 
if he in his goodness designed him for their bishop, the 
same Dove might light upon him again, which imme- 
diately happening after their prayers, he was chosen Bish- 
op by the unanimous suffrages of the whole city. Besides 
this, several other miracles are attributed to him ; as the 
quenching a fire in the city by his prayers ; his directing 
the digging of the foundation of a church, in such a place, 
where the workmen found a pot of gold, almost sufficient 
to defray the charges of the building : his converting se- 
ven thousand infidels to Christianity within the space of 
three days : and lastly, for foretelling his own death, and 
in a sort of prophetical manner naming Arianus lor his 
successor. 

8. Nativity §• 3' The eighth of this month is dedicated to the me- 
of iheble.'- mory of the blessed VirgUi's Nati-vifx)^ a consort of angels 
M^ ^""^'^^ having been heard in the air to solemnize that day as her 
^ '^^^' birth-day. Upon which account the day itself was not 

only kept holy in after-ages ; but it was also honoured by 
Pope Innocent W. with an octave, A. D. 1244, and by 
Gregory XI. with a vigil in the year 1370. 
14. Hnly- §» 'i* T'he fourteenth of this month is called Holy-cross- 
cross*duy. day, a festival deriving its beginning about the year 615, 
on this occasion: Cosroes King of Persia having plundered 
Jerusalem, (after hating made great ravages in other parts 
of the Christian world,) took aWay from thence a great 
piece of the cross, which Helena had left there : and, at 
the times of his mirth, made sport with that and the holy 
Trinity. Heraclius the Emperor givu)g him battle, de- 



Of the Calaidar, 75 

featcd tlie enciny, and recovered the cross: but bringing Tart II. 
it back with triumph to Jerusalem, he found the gates 
shut against him, and heard a voice from heaven, which 
told him, that the King of kings did not enter into 
that city in so stately a manner, but meek and lowly, and 
riding upon an ass. With that the Emperor dismounted 
from his horse, and w^ent into the city not only afoot, 
])ut barefooted, and carrying the wood of the cross him- 
self. Which honour done to the cross gave rise to this 
festival. 

§. 5. Lambert was Bishop of Utrecht in the time of 17. Lam- 
King Pepin I. But reproving the King's grandson for his '"prt, Bi»h= 
lewd amours, he was, by the contrivance of one of his nF ^''^ 
concubines, barbarously murdered. Being canonized, he 
at first only obtained a commemoration in the calendar; 
till Robert Bishop of Leeds in a general chapter of the 
Cistercian order procured a solemn feast to his honour, 
A.D.I 240. 

§. 6. St. Cyprian was by birth an African, of a good 26. Saint 
family and education. Before his conversion he taught ^'yp^ian^ 
rhetoric ; but by the persuasion of one Csecilius, a Priest, carihaffe 
(from whom he had his surname,) he became a Christian, and Mar-' 
And giving all his substance to tlie poor, he was elected Or. 
Bishop of Carthage in the year 248. He behaved himself 
with great prudence in the Decian persecution, persuad- 
ing the people to constancy and perseverance ; which so 
enraged the heathen, that they Diade proclamation for his 
discovery in the open theatre. He suffered martyrdom 
September 14, A. D. 258, under Valerianus and Gallic- 
n'js. having foretold that storm long before, and disposed 
his flock to bear it accordingly. 

But the Cyprian in the Roman calendar celebrated on TheCyprir 
this day, as appears by the Roman breviary, is not the an in the 
same with St. Cyprian of Carthage, but another Cyprian I^o^ian ca^ 
of Antioch, who of a conjurer was made a Christian, and J^ere^t 
afterwards a deacon and a martyr. He happened to be person. 
in love with one Justina, a beautiful young Christian ; 
whom trying, without success, to debauch, he consulted 
the devil upon the matter, who frankly declared he had 
no power over good Christians. Cyprian, not pleased with 
this answer of the devil, quitted his service, and turned 
Christian. But as soon as it was known, both he and Jus- 
tina were accused before the heathen Governor, who con- 
demned them to be fried in a frying-pan with pitch and 
fat, in order to force them to renounce their religion, 
which they notwithstanding with constancy persisted ir>. 



re Oftht Calendar. 

Ghap. T. After ilieir tortures they were bcheadcJ, and their bodies 

-" thrown away unburied^ till a kind mariner took them up, 

and conveyed them to Rome, where they w^re deposited 
in the church of Constantine. They were martyred in 
the year 272. 
3d. St. Je- §. 7. St. Jcrom was the son of one Eusebius, born in a 
rom,Priest, town Called Stridon, in the confines of Pannonia and Dal- 
andDoc*-'^' matia. Being a lad of pregnant parts, he was sent to 
tor. Rome to learn rhetoric under Donatus and Victorinus, 

tw^o famous Latin critics. There he got to be secretary 
to Pope Damasus, and was afterwards baptized. He stu- 
died divinity with the principal divines of that age, viz. 
Gregory Nazianzen, Epiphanius, and Didymus. And to 
perfect his qualifications this way, he learned the Hebrew 
tongue from one Banaban a Jew. He spent most of his 
time in a monastery at Bethlehem, in great retirement 
and hard study ; where he translated the Bible. He died 
in the year 422, being fourscore 3'^ears old. 



Sect. X. Of the Romish Saints-days arid Holy-days in 
October, 

October 1. REMIGIUSwas bornatLanden, where he kept him- 
Bi^'hop of s^^^ ^^ close to his studies, that he was supposed to 
Rhemes. have led a monastic life. After the death ofBennadius, 
he was chosen Bishop of Rhem«s, for his extraordinary 
learning and piety. He converted to Christianity King 
Clodoveus, and good part of his kingdom ; for which 
reason he is by some esteemed the apostle of France. Af- 
ter he had held his bishopric seventy-four years, he died 
at ninety-six years of age, A. D. 535. The cruise which 
he made use of is preserved in France to this day, their 
kings being usually anointed out of it at their coronation. 
5. Faith, §. 2. Faith^ a young woman so called, was born at Pais 
Virj;m and ^^ Gavrein France. She suffered martyrdom and very 
^^ ^^' cruel torments under the presidentship of Dacianus, about 
the year 290. 
9. St- De- §. 3. St. DenySf or Dionysius the Areopagile^ ^vas con- 
njs Areop. verted to Christianity by St. Paul, as is recorded in the 
MartTr.^"^ seventeenth of the Acts. He was at first one of the judges 
of the famous court of the Areopagus, but was afterwards 
made Bishop of Athens, where he suffered martyrdom for 
the sake of the Gospel. There are several books which 
bear his name ; but they seem all of them to have been 
the product of the sixth century. He is claimed by the 
French as their tutelar saint, by reason that, as they say, 



I 



Oftht Calendar. 77 

he. was the first that preached the Gospel to them. But it P^*"^ J^- 
is plain that Christianity was not preached in that nation — -~ 
till long after St. Dionysius's death. Among several fool- 
ish and incoherent stories, which they relate of him, this 
is one : that, after several grievous torments undergone, 
he was beheaded by Fescennius the Roman Governor at 
Paris ; at which time he took up his head, after it was 
severed from his body, and walked two miles with it in 
his hands, to a place called the Martyrs-hill, and there 
laid down to rest. 

§. 4. The thirteenth of this month is dedicated to the 13. Trans- 
memory of King Edward the Confessor's Translation. He J'^^ion of 
was the youngest son of KingEthelred ; but, all his elder ^^"g fj^^ 
brothers being dead, or fled away, he came to the crown Conlessor 
of England in the year 1042. His principal excellency 
was his gathering together a body of all the most useful 
laws, which had been made by the Saxon and Danish 
kings. The name of Confessor is supposed to have been 
given him by the Pope, for settling what was then called 
Rome-Scot ; but is now better known by the name of 
Peter- Pence. The monks have attributed so many mira- 
cles to him, that even his vestments are by them reputed 
holy. His crown, chair, staff, spurs, &c. are still made 
use of in the coronation of our English Kings. 

§. 5. Etheldred was daughter of Anna, a King of the 17. Ethel- 
East-Angles, who was first married to one Tonbert, a great <^fed, Vir- 
Lord in Lincolnshire, &c. and after him to King Egfrid S'°* 
about the year 671, with both which husbands she still 
continued a Virgin, upon pretence of great sanctity. And 
staying at court twelve years, and continuing this morose- 
ness, she got leave to depart to Coldingham Abbey, where 
she was a Nun under Ebba, the daughter of King Ethel- 
frida, who was Abbess. Afterwards she built an abbey at 
Ely, which she was Abbess of herself, and there died and 
was buried, being recorded to posterity by the name of 
St. Audry. 

§. 6. Crispinus and Critpianus were brethren, and born 05. Cri?- 
at Rome : from whence they travelled to Soissons in pin, Mar- 
France, about the year 303, in order to propagate the O*". 
Christian religion. But because they would not be charg- 
able to others for their maintenance, they exercised the 
trade af Shoemakers. But the Governor of the town dis- 
covering them to be Christians, ordered them to be be- 
headed about the year 303. From which time the Shoe- 
makers made choice of them for their tutelar saints. 



rs Of the Calendar. 



€hap. I. Sect. XI. Of (lit Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in 
• November* 

AH-So 1 The second of this month is called All-Souls day, 
day. being observed in the Church of Rome upon this oc- 

casion. A monk having visited Jerusalem, and passing 
hrough Sicily as he returned home, had a mind to see 
mount jEtna, which is continually belching out fire and 
smoke, and upon that account bj some thought to be the 
mouth of hell. Being there he heard the devils within 
complain, that many departed souls were taken out of 
their hands by the prayers of the Cluniac monks. This, 
when he came home, he related to his Abbot Odilo, as a 
true story ; who thereupon appointed the second of No- 
vember to be annuall^^ kept in his monastery, and prayers 
to be made there for all departed souls ; and in a little 
time afterwards the monks got it to be made a general 
holy-day by the appointment of the Pope ; till in ours 
and other reformed churches it was deservedly abrogated. 
eXeonard, ^, 2. Leonard was born at Le Nans, a town in France, 
Confegsor. ^^^^^ ^^ j^ divinity under Remigius Bishop of Rhemes, 
and afterwards made Bishop of Limosin. He obtained of 
King Clodovcus a favour, that all prisoners whom he went 
to see should be set free. And therefore whenever he 
heard of any persons being prisoners for the sake of reli- 
gion, or any other good cause,he presently procured their 
liberty this way. But the monks have improved this story, 
tclhng us, that if any one in prison had called upon his 
name, his fetters would immediate4y drop off, and the 
prison doors fly open : insomuch that many came from far 
counlries, brought their fetters and chains, which had 
fallen off by his intercession, and presented them before 
him in token of gratitude. He died in the year 500, and 
has always hecn implored by prisoners as their saint. 
if.Sf Mar- ^. 3. St. Marllfi's account has already been given on 

^;;^,^;',7 July 4. 

jVw^nr. ^» 4. Brilins. or St. Br ice, was successor to St. Martin 

lo.Britius, in the bishopric of Tours. About the year 432, a great 
B(5hcvp. trouble befel him : for his laundres? proving wilh child, 
the uncharitable people of the town fathered it upon 
Bricc. After the child was born, the censures of the peo- 
ple increased, who were then ready to stone their Bishop. 
But the bishop liaving ordered the infant to be brought 
to him, adjured him by Jesus the son of the living God, 
'o tell him wLo:>e child he was. The child being then 



Of tht Calendar, 79 

but thirty days old, replied, " You are not my father." P^r^ ^^* 
But this was so far from mending matters with Brice, " " 

that it made them much worse ; the people now accusing 
him of sorcery likewise. At last being driven out of the 
city, he appealed to Rome, and, after a seven years suit, 
got his bishopric again. This story is told of him by 
Gregory Turonensis, his successor in his see at Tours. 

§. 5, Machutus^ otherwise called Maclovius, was a Bi- 15. Ma- 
shop in Bretagne in France, of that place which is from ch^''t»s. 
him called St. Maloes. He lived about the year 500, and ^'^^^P* 
was famous for many miracles, if the acts concerning him 
may be credited. 

§. 6. Hugh was born in a city of Burgundy, called Gra- n. Hugh^ 
tianopolis. He was first a regular canon, and afterwards Bishop of 
a Carthusian monk* Being very famous for his extraor- LmcolD, 
dinary abstinence and austerity of life. King Henry II. 
having built a house for Carthusian monks at Witteham 
in Somersetshire, sent over Reginald Bishop of Bath to in- 
vite this holy man to accept the place of the Prior of this 
new foundation. Hugh, after a great many intreaties^ 
absented, and came over with the bishop, and was by the 
same King made Bishop of Lincoln : where he gained an 
imaiortal riime for his well governing that see, and new- 
building the cathedral from the foundation. In the year 
1200, upon his return from. Carthusia, the chief and ori- 
ginal house of their order, (whither he had made a voy- 
B^e.) he fell sick of a quartan ague at London, and there 
died on November the seventeenth. His body was pre- 
sently conveyed to Lincoln, and happening to be brought 
thither when John King of England and William King 
of Scots had an interview there, the two Kings, out of 
respect to his sanctity, assisted by some of their Lords, 
took him upon their shoulders, and carried him to the ca- 
thedral. In the year 1220, he was canonized at Rome 
and his body being taken up October 7, 1 282, was placed 
in a silver shrine. The monks have ascribed several mir- 
acles to him, which I shall omit for brevity, and only set 
down one story which is credibly related ofhim, wz* 
That coming to Godstow, a house of Nuns near Oxford, 
and seeing a hearse in the middle of the choir covered 
with silk, and tapers burning about it, (it being then, as 
it is still in some parts of England, a custom to have such 
monuments in the church for some time after the burial 
of persons of distinction,) he asked who was buried there ; 
and being informed that it was fair Rosamond, the concu- 
bine of King Henry II. who had that honour done her 



80 Of the Calendar. 

Chap. I. for having obtained a great many favours of the King foi* 

"" that house, he immediately commanded her body to be 

digged up, and to be buried in the church^yard, saying 
it was a place a great deal too good for a harlot, and 
therefore he would have her removed, as an example to 
terrify other women from such a wicked and filthy kind 
of life. 
20. Ed- §• 7". Edmund was a king of the East-Angles, who be- 
inund, ing assaulted by the Danes (after their irruption into 
Kms and England) for their possession of this country, and not being 
^^ ^^' able to hold out against them, offered his own person, if 
they would spare his subjects. But the Danes having got 
him under their power, endeavoured to make him re- 
nounce his religion : which he refused to do, they first 
beat him with bats, then scourged him with whipsj and 
afterwards, binding him to a stake, shot him to death 
with their arrows. His body was buried in a town where 
Sigebert, one of his predecessors, had built a church ; and 
where afterw^ards (in honour of his name) another was 
built more spacious, and the name of the town, upon that 
occasion, called St. Edmund's-bury. 
22.Csecilia, §, 8. CcBcilia was a Roman lady, who refusing to re- 
Maft'vr bounce her religion when required, was thrown into a 
furnace of boiling water, and scalded to death : though 
others say she was stifled by shutting out the air of tL 
bath, which was a death sometimes iiiflicted in those days 
upon women of quality who were criminals. She lived 
in the year 225. 
23.St.Cle- §. 9. St. Clement 1. was a Roman by birth, and one of 
r!!!* ^' f ^^^ ^^^^ bishops of that place : which see he held, ac- 
RomTand Cording to the best accounts, from the year 64 or 65 to 
Martyr, the year 81, or thereabouts; and during which time he 
was most undoubtedly author of one, and is supposed to 
have been of two very excellent epistles, the first of which 
was so much esteemed of by the primitive Christians, as 
that for some time it was read in the churches for canoni- 
cal scripture." He was for the sake of his religion first 
coridemned to hew etones in the mines ; and afterwards^ 
having an anchor tied about his neck, was drowned in the 
sea. 
2'>. Cathe- §• 10. St. Ca//ierme was born at Alexandria, and bred 
fine, Virgin up to letters. About the year 305 she was converted to 
*"*^^^^'^*>''' Christianity, which she afterwards professed with great 
courage and constancy *, openly rebuking the heathen for 

23. Cave^B Historia Lileraria. 



Of the Caknditr. 81 

bflering sacrifice to their idols, and upbraiding the cruelly Par* ^^^ 
of Maxentius, the Emperor, to his face. She was con- °*" 

dcmned to suffer death in a very unusual manner, viz, by 
rolling a wheel stuck round with iron spikes, or the points 
of swords, over her body. 

Sect. XII. Of the Romish Sainls-days and Holy-days 
in December* 

Nicolas was born at Patara, a city of Lycia, and Dec. 6^ 
was afterwards, in the time of Constantine the Great, gj'^jj^^^^j* 
made Bishop of Myra. He was remarkable for his great Myra in 
charity; as a proof of which this instance may serve. Ljcia, 
Understanding that three young women, daughters of a 
person who had fell to decay, were tempted to take lewd 
courses for a maintenance, he secretly conveyed a sum 
of money to their father's house, sufficient to enable him 
to provide for them in a virtuous way. 

§. 3. T\\'^. feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary 8- Concept 
was instituted by Anselm Archbishop of Canter bury,upon[^^""/'^^*^f. 
occasion of William the Conqueror's fleet being in a storm gi^j^ary^ 
and afterwards coming safe to shore* But the council of" 
Oxford, held in the year 1222, left people at liberty whe- 
ther they would observe it or not. But it had before this 
given rise to the question ventilated so warmly in the Ro- 
man church, concerning the Virgin Mary's immaculate 
conception ; which was first started by Peter Lombard 
about the year 1160^ 

§. 3. Lucy was a young lady of Syracuse, who, being 12. Lucy, 
courted by a gentleman, but preferring a religious single "^""gin and 
life before marriage, gave all her fortune away to the ^^^^'^y^' 
poor, in order to stop his farther applications. But the 
young man, enraged at this, accused her to Paschaslus, 
the heathen judge, for professing Christianity ; who there- 
upon ordered her to be sent to "the stews: but she strug» 
gling with the officers who were to carry her, was, after a 
great deal of barbarous usage, killed by them. She lived 
in the year 305. 

§. 4. The sixteenth of December is called OSapieniia^ 16. OSapj. 
from the beginning of an anthem in the Latin service, *="*'**• 
which used to be sung in the church (for the honour of 
Christ's advent) from'this day till Christmas Eve. 

§.5. Silvester succeeded Miltiades in the papacy of ^^' S'^^^S" 
Rome, A. D. 314. He is said to have been the author of *7j,^''^"^ 
several rites and ceremonies of the Romish church, as of ° ^'"''' 
Asylums, Unctions, Palls, Corporals, Mitres, &c* He died 
in the year 334. 

K 



82 Of the First Rubric, 

CHAP. JL 
OF THE FIRST HUBRiC* 

The Introduction. 

• 

Chap. IT. Having done with the Tables, Rules, and Calendar, 

" I should now procf^ed in order to the daily Morning and 

Evening Service : but the First Rubric^ relating to that 
service, making mention of several things which deserve 
a particular consideration, and which must necessarily be 
treated of somewhere or other ; I thmkthis the properest 
place to do it in, and shall therefore take the opportunity 
of this rubric to treat of them in a distinct chapter by 
themselves. 

The Rubric runs thus : 

If The ORDER for MORNING and EVENING 
PRAYER, daily to be said and used throughout the 
Year. 

* Rubrics are the rules and directions given in the book of Common 
Praver, for the proper performanGe of the respective offices of the church. 
The^ are called Rubrics, because directions similar to them were for- 
merly distinguished by appearing m red characters, both in written and 
printed books. 

The Latin word Ruhrica^ from which the English term Rubric is 
immediately derived, means red earth, red ochre, &c. ; in a figurative 
sense, it -iguifies marks put upon sheep ; it more particularly denotes 
the contents of a book, especially of a book of civil law, the title, heads, 
and indexes of which were written in red letters. In our old books of 
common prayer, the rubric? are generally printed in Roman letters, and 
the littTiiy in old English or black letters. In thi? manner are printed the 
staled books and the larger editions of 1662, Sec ; at least, such copies 
of them as I have peen But in all modern legitimate editions, the whole 
of the offices, excepting the responses, is, I believe, universally printed 
in the Roman character, and the rubrics in Italic. 

SnEPHERD. 

, In the American Prayer Book, what is here called the first rubric is 

omitted, probably because parts of it had in practice become obsolete. 
Custom having- establish- d the use of the Bishop's robes, and the Sur- 
plice, and the objections raised by the Dissenters being- now very gene- 
rally allow d to be trifling in themselves, it has not been thought ne- 
cess.:r' to enjoin the use of these, or any other garments or ministerial 
ornaments, by any rubric or canon. The same may be said of all the 
ornaments ef the church. Ed. 



Of the First Rubric. 83 

The Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in the ac- -ect. I. 

customed place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel ; except 

it shall be otherzoise determined by the Ordinary of the 
place ; and the Chancels shall remain as they have done 
in times past. 

And here it is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the 
Church, and the Ministers thereof, at all times of their mi- 
nistration, shall be retained and be in use, as ivtre in this 
Church of England, by the authority of Parliament, in 
the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth* 

These are the words of the Rubric, and from thence I 
shall take occasion to treat of these four things, viz» 

I. The prescribed Times of public prayer ; Morning^i\{{ 
Evening, 

II. The Place where it is to be used ; in the accustomed 
place of the Church, Chapel or Chancel, 

III. The Minister, or person officiating. 

IV. The Ornaments used in the church by the minister. 
Of all which in their order. 

Sect. I. Of the prescribed Times of Public Prayer. 

JVlAN, consisting of soul and body, cannot always be The ne- 
actually engaged in the immediate service of God, that cessity of 
being the privilege of angels and souls freed from the f^^^^gt 
fetters of mortality. So long as we are here, we must times fcr 
worship God with respect to our present state ; and there- the perfor- 
fore must of necessity have some definite and particular "l^P^^ ^^ 
time to do it in. Now that men might not be left in an worship, 
uncertainty in a matter of so great importance, people of 
all ages and nations have been guided by the very dictates 
of nature, not only to appoint some certain seasons to ce- 
lebrate their more solemn parts of religion, (of which more 
hereafter,) but also to set apart daily some portion of time 
for the performance of divine worship. To his peculiar Whjthe 
people the Jews God himself appointed their set times of Jewish 8a» 

public devotion ; commanding them to offer up two lambs ^"S<^^' 
' -J ■ 1 • ° 7 7 OM 1 • I ^tre oner- 

aaily, one m the morning, and the other at ei*en , which gd at the 

we find, from other places of Scripture"-, were at their third third and 

and ninth hours, which answer to our m7ie and three; that [^'"^^ 

"^o tho^e burnt offerings, being types of the great sacrifice 

vhich Christ the Lamb of God was to offer up for the sins 

21 Exod. xxix.39. Numb, xxviii. 4. 25 Acts ii. 15. and chap. iii. 1. 



8i Of the First Rubric, 

Ohap. II. Qf (\^Q world might be sacrificed at the same hours wherein 
* "^^ his death was begun and finished. For about the third 
hour, or nine In the morning, he was delivered to Pilate, 
accused, examined, and condemned to die^s ; about the 
sixth hour, or noon, this Lamb of God was laid upon the 
altar of the cross^'' ; and at the ninth hour, or three in the 
The prira^- afternoon, yielded up the Ghosf^^ And though the Le^ 
tiveChnst- yjj^ical Law expired to^rether with our Saviour: vet the 
ved the public worship 01 uod must still have some certain times 
same hours sct apart for the performance of it: and accordingly all 
of prayer Christian churches have been used to have their public de- 
same *rea- "Votions performed daily morning or evening. The Apostles 
son, and primitive Christians continued to observe the same 

hours of prayer with the Jews, as might easily be shewn 
Why not from the records of the ancient church^^ But the Church 
enjoined of England cannot be so happy as to appoint any set hours 
Chwrchof when either morning or evening prayer shall be said : be- 
}iugUind, cause now people are grown so cold and indifferent in their 
devotions, they would be too apt to excuse their absenting 
from the public worship, from the inconveniency of the 
time : and therefore she hath only taken care to enjoin 
that public prayers be read every morning and evening 
daily throughout the year ; that so all her members may 
have opportunity of joining in public worship twice at 
least every day. But to make the duty as practicable 
and easy both to the minister and people as possible, she 
hath left the determination of the particular hours to the 
ministers that officiate ; who, considering every one his 
own and his people's circumstances, may appoint such 
hours for morning and evening prayer, as they shall 
judge to be most proper and convenient. 
All Priests §. 2. But if it be in places where congregations can be 
and Dea- had, and the Cut ate of the parish be at home, and not other' 
ihTmorn^^ ztfi^e reasonably hindered^ she expects or enjoins that he say 
ing and the same in the Parish-Church or Chapel where he minister- 
evening g^/^^ and Cause a bell to be tolled thereunto a convenient time^ 
&i\]^^^ ei- ^^/^^^ ^^^ begin, that the people may come to hear God's zcord, 
ther openly and to pray with him. But if, for want of a congregation, 
at church, or on some other account, he cannot conveniently read 
or privately i^j^^,,,-, j^ ^j^^ church ; he is then bound to say them in the 
milks. ' faniily where he lives: for by the same rubric, all Priests 



26 Matt, xxviii. 1—^6. Tertnll. de Jejnn. cap. I'O. Cypr. 

27 John xix. 11. <le Orat. Domin. Basil, in Reg^. fiis. 
?8 Matt, xxvii. 46, T.O. Disp. Int. 37. Hieron. in Dan. 6. 
i'9 Coostif. A post 1. H. c. 34. Hup. de Divin. COic. 1. 1, c 5. 



Of the First Jluhric, 85 

and Deacons are to say daily the morning and evening prayer, ^^ct. 1 h 
either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some """" "^ 
other urgent cause^^. Ofzohich cause, if it be frequently pre- 
tended, the Scotch Common Prayer requires that they make 
the Bishop of the Diocese, or the Bishop of the Province, the 
Judge and Allower. The occasion of our rubric was pro- 
bably a rule in the Roman church, by which, even before 
the Reformation and the Council of Trent, the clergy 
were obliged to recite what they call the Canonical Hours 
(i. e. the offices in the Breviary for the several hours of 
day and night) either publicly in a church or chapel, or 
privately by themselves. But our Reformers not approv- 
ing the Priests performing by themselves what ought to be 
the united devotions of many ; and yet not being willing 
wholly to discharge the clergy from a constant repetition 
of their prayers, thought fit to discontinue these solitary 
devotions; but at the same time ordered, that if a con- 
gregation at church could not be had, the public service, 
both for morning and evening, should be recited in the fa- 
mily where the minister resided. Though, according to the 
first book of King Edward, this is not meant that any man 
shall be bound to the saying of it, but such as from time to 
time, in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, Parish-Churches^ 
and Chapels to the same annexed^ shall serve the Congrega- 
tion, Though these words in that book immediately fol- 
low the first part of the rubric which relates to the Lan- 
guage in which the service is to be said ; the two other 
paragraphs discoursed of in this section, being the first 
inserted in the book that was published in 1552. 

Sect. II. Of Churches ; or Places set apart for the 
performance of Divine Worship, 

J HE public worship of God, being to be performed by Theneces- 
the joint concurrence of several people, does not only f 'ty ofhav- 
require a place convenientlycapaciousofall that assemble '"S^PF^"^- 
together to perform that worship ; but there must be also '^^^^ for the 
some determinate and fixed place appointed, that so all public 
who belong to the same congregation may know whither ^^r^^^'po^ 
they may repair and meet one another. This reason put Thenni- 
even the Heathens, who were guided by the light of na- versal 
ture, upon erecting public places for the honour of their practice 



(he Hea- 



gods, and for their own conveniency, in meeting together ^^^^^ 

30 The Rubric at the end of the Preface concerning the Service of 
Uie Church. 



26 0/ the First Rubric, 

Chap. II. to pay their religious services and devotions. And the Pa- 

triarchs, by the same light of nature, and the guidance of 

God's holy Spirit, had Altars^^, Mountains^^ and Groves^\ 

Jews. for that purpose. In the wilderness, where the Israelites 
themselves had no setded habitation, they had, by God's 
command, a moving tabernacle^^. And as soon as they 
should be fixed in the land of promise, God appointed a 
temple to be built at Jerusalem^*, which David intended^*, 
and Solomon pe^formed^^ And after that was demolished, 
anothor was built in the room of it'^, which Christ himself 
owned for his house of prayev^^ and which both he and 

Apostles, his Apo&tles frequented as well as the synagogues. And 
that the Apostles after him had churches fixed, and appro- 
priate places for the joint performance of divine worship, 
will be beyond all dispute, if we take but a short survey 
of the first ages of Christianity. In the sacred wTitings 
we find more than probable footsteps of some determinate 
places for their solemn conventions, and peculiar only to 
that use. Of this nature was that vTre^uov^ or upper room^ 
into which the Apostles and Disciples (after their return 
from our Saviour's ascension) went up, as into a place com- 
monly known, and separate to divine use^o. Such a one, 
if not the same, w^as that one place wherein they were all 
assembled with one accord upon the day of Pentecost, 
v/hen the Holy Ghost visibly came down upon them*^ 
And this the rather, because the multitude (and they too 
strangers of every nation under heaven) came so readily 
to the place upon the first rumour of so strange an acci- 
dent ; which could hardly have been, had it not been 
commonly known to be the place where the Christians 
used to meet together. And this very learned men take to 
be the meaning of the forty-sixth verse of the second chap- 
ter of the Acts : They continued daily with one accord in the 
icmple^ and breakins: breads t^oir'' o7kov (not, as we render it, 
from house to house, but) at home^ as it is in the margin, or 
in the house, they eat their meat with gladness of heart ; i, e, 
when they had performed their daily devotions at the 
temple, at the accustomed hours of prayer, they used to 
return home to this upper room, there to celebrate the holy 
Eucharist, and then go to their ordinary meals. And Mr. 

31 Gen. xii. f, 8. chap, xxviii. 2, 

32 GeB. xxii. 2. 37 1 Kings vi. 

.'33 Gen. xxi. 33. 38 Ezra iii. 8, &c. 

34 Exod. xxv, f^c. 39 Me.tt. xxi. 13. 

.S5 Dent. xii. lU, U. 40 Acts i. 13. 

3G l.Chi'on. svii. l,2.ch?.p.xxii. 7. 41 Acts ii. 1. 



0/ the First Rubric, Bf 

Gregory proves that the upper rooms, so often mentioned Sect IL 
in Scripture, were places in that part of the house which - 
was highest from the ground, set apart by the Jews as well 
as Christians for the performance of the public worship 
and devotions^^. However, this interpretation of the text 
seems to be clear and unforced, and the more probable, 
because it follows the mention of their asseml)ling toge- 
ther in that one place on the day of Pentecost, which room 
is also called by the same name of house, at the second 
verse of that chapter. And it is not at all unlikely, but 
that, when the fii'st believers sold their houses and lands, and 
laid the money at the ApostWsfeet, to supply the necessities 
of the church ; some of them might give their houses (at 
least some eminent room in them) for the church to meet 
in, and to perform their sacred duties. Which also may be 
the reason why the Apostle so often salutes such and such 
a person, and the church in his house^^; which seems clearly 
to intimate, that in such or such a house (probably in the 
v7re^tf)ov^ or upper room of it) was the constant and solemn 
convention of the Christians of that place for their joint 
celebration of divine worship. For (hat this salutation is 
not used merely because their families were Christians, 
appears from other salutations of the same Apostle,where 
Aristobulus and Narcissus, &c. are saluted with their 
household'^*. And this will be farther cleared by that fa- 
mous passage of St. Paul'*% where taxing the Corinthians 
for their irreverance and abuse of the Lord's Supper, one 
greedily eating before another, and some of them even to 
excess ; if hat ! says he, have you not houses to eat and drink 
in ? or despise ye the church of God ? Where that by church 
is not meant the assembly meeting, but the place in which 
they used to assemble, is evident partly from what went 
before, (for their coming together in the church^^, is explained 
by their coming together into one place'^'^, plainly arguing 
that the Apostle meant not the persons, but the place,) 
partly from the opposition which he makes between the 
church and their own private houses : if they must have 
such irregular banquets, they had houses of their own, 
where it was much fitter to have their ordinary repasts, 
than in that place which was set apart for the common 
exercises of religion, and therefore not to be dishonoured 

42 Observations upon Scripture, iv. 19. 

chap. 23. 45 1 Cor. xi. 22. 

43 Rotn xvi. 3. 5 1. Cor. xvi. 46 1 Cor. xi. 18. 
19. Col. iv. 15. Philem. ver. 1,2. 47 1 Cor. xi. 20. 

44, Rom. xvi. 10, 11, 14. 2 Tim. 



88 Of the First Rubric. 

Chap. II. by such extravagant and intemperate feastings, which 
was no less than despising it. For which reason he en- 
joins them in the close of the chapter, that if any man 
hunger, he should eat at home. And in this sense was this 
text always understood by the ancient fathers'*®. 

And primi- Thus stood the case during the times of the Apostles : 

tive^Chris- ^^ fgp jjjg ggg^ g^f|^gp them, we find that the primitive 
Christians had their fixed and definite places of worship, 
especially in the second century ; as, had we no other evi- 
dence, might be made good from the testimony of the 
author of that dialogue inLucian, (if notLucian himself,) 
who expressly mentions that house or room wherein the 
Christians were wont to assemble together''^. And Justin 
Martyr expressly affirms, that " upon Sunday all Christ- 
" ians (whether in town or country) used to assemble to- 
" gether in one place^°;" which could hardly have been 
done, had not that place been fixed and settled. The same 
we find after'"" "ds in several places of Tertullian, who 
speaks "of the coming into the c/iwrc/i and /loiweo/Gorf^V' 
which he elses u^-re^^ calls the house of our Vove^ i, t. of 
the holy Spirit \ and there describes the very form and 
fashion of it. And in another place^^, speaking of their 
going into the water to be baptized, he tells us, " They 

' " were wont first to go into the church, to make their so- 

" lemn renunciation before the Bishop." About this 
time, in the reign of Alexander Severus, the Emperor, 
(who began his reign about the year 222,) the heathen 
historian tells us**, that when there was a contest between 
the Christians and vintners about a certain public place, 
which the Christians had challenged for theirs; the Em* 
peror gave the cause for the Christians against the vint- 
ners, saying, " It was much better that God should be 
" worshipped there any ways, than that the vintners should 
*' possess it." If it be said, that " the heathens of those 
" times generally accused the Christians for having no 
" temples, and charged it upon them as a piece of atheism 
" and impiety ; and that the Christian apologists did not 
" deny it ;" the answer depends upon the notion they had 

48 August. Quaest. 57. in Levi- 50 Apol. 1. }. 87. p. ISl. 
ficura, torn. iii. col. 516. F. Basil. 51 De Idol. c. 7. p. 88. D, 
Morai, Rec 30. c. 1. torn. ii. p. 52 Adv. Valentin, c. 3. p. 25 i- 
437. A. Chrjf-ost. in 1 Cor. xi. B. 

22. Horn. 27. tom. iii. p. 419. lin. 53 De Corona. Milit. c. p. 102, 

40. Theodoret. in euHdein locum, A. 

tom. iii. p. 175. A. 54 iEl. Lamprid. in Vita Alex- 

49 Philopatr. vol. ii. p. 776. Sever, c. 49. apud Hist. August. 
Amslelod. 1687. Scnptor. p. 575. Lugd. Batav. 1661 



Of the First Rubric. 89 

bf a temple ; by which the Gentiles understood the places Sect. II. 
devoted to their gods, and wherein the deities were in- ^ 

closed and shut up; places adorned with statues and im- 
ages, with line altars and ornaments^\ And for such tem- 
ples as these, they freely confessed they neither had nor 
ought to have any, for the True God did not (as the 
heathens supposed theirs did) dwell in temples made with 
hands ; he neither needed, nor could possibly be honour- 
ed by them : and therefore they purposely abstained from 
the word Temple^ which is not used by any Christian 
writer for the place of the Christian assemblies, for the 
best part of the first three hundred years. But then those 
very writers, who deny that Christians had any temples, 
do at the same time acknowledge that they had their 
meeting places for divine worship ; their Conventicula, as 
Arnobius calls them^^ when he complains of their being 
furiously demolished by their enemies* 

§. 2. It cannot be thought that in the first ages, while Their 
the flames of persecution raged, the Christian churches c^^^rches 
should be very stately and magnificent: it were sufficient andmae-'^ 
if they were such as the condition of those times would nificent. 
bear; their splendor increasing according to the enter- 
tainment Christianity met withal in the world ; till, the 
empire becoming Christian, their temples rose up into 
grandeur and stateliness : as, amongst others, may appear 
by the particular description which Eusebius gives of the 
church of Tyre", and of that which Constantine built at 
Constantinople in honour of the Apostles^^ : both which, 
the historian tells us, were incomparably sumptuous and 
niasinificent. 

§. 3. 1 shall not undertake to describe at large the se- The form 
veral parts and dimensions of their churches, (which va- of them 
ried according to the different times and ages,) but only 
briefly reflect upon such as were most common and re- 
markable, and are still retained amongst us. For ihe form 
and/a^/iio/iof their churches, it was for the most parto6- 
long^ to keep the better correspondence with the fashion 
of a ship ; the common notion and metaphor by which the 
church was wont to be represented, to remind us that we 
arc tossed up and down in the world, as upon a stormy 

55 Mintititi? Felix, c 10. p. 61. 57 Eccles. Histor. 1. 10. c. 4. p. 
Arnob. adv. Gentes, ad initiuoi 1. 37/. 

^i. p. 189, Szc. Lactant. Inslitut. 58 De Vita Const. 1. 4. c 58, 
1.2. c. 2. p. 118. 59. p. 555. 

56 Arnobius adv. Genles, ad 
•inem 1. 4. p. 152- 

L 



90 Of the First Rubric. 

Chap. II. and tempestuous sea, and that out of the church there \i 
no safe passage to heaven, the country we all hope to ar- 
rive at. It was always divided into two principal parts, viz. 
the Nave or Body of the church, and the Sacrarium, since 
The Chan- called Chancel, from its being divided from the body of 
'^^^^'iTh^ the church by neat rails, called in Latin Cancelli. The 
Nave was common to all the people, and represented the 
visible world ; the Chancel was peculiar to the Priests 
Always and sacred persons, and typified heaven: for which rea- 
stood at sQj^ they always stood at the East end of the church, to- 
the East ^^,gj,(]g ^hich part of the world they paid a more than 
end of the i • l • i • '^ i • ^t 
church, ordmary reverence m their worship; wherein, Clemens 

and vfhj, Alcxandrinus^^ tells us, they had respect to Christ : for as 
the east is the birth and womb of the natural day, from 
whence the sun (the fountain of all sensible light) does 
arise and spring; so Christ, the true Sun of righteousness, 
who arose upon the world with the light of truth, when it 
sat in the darkness of error and ignorance, is in Scrip- 
ture^^ styled the East : and therefore since we must in our 
prayers turn our faces tov\rard some quarter, it is fittest it 
should be towards the East ; especially since it is proba- 
ble even from Scripture itself, that the Majesty and Glory 
of God is in a peculiar manner in that part of the heavens, 
and that the Throne of Christ and the splendor of his 
Humanity has its residence there^^ In this Chancel al- 
ways stood the Altar or Communion-table: which none 
were allowed to approach, but such as were in holy or- 
ders, unless it were the Greek Emperors at Constantino- 
ple, who were allowed to go up to the table to make their 
offerings, but were immediately to return back again*^^ 
The use of §. 4. But though the Christians of those times spared 
images for- no convenient cost in founding and adorning public places 
bidden in ^^^ ^-j^^ worship of God ; yet they were careful not to run 
the primi- . .^ ,«'.•' . . .^ • 

live into a too curious and over-nice superstition. No images 

church. were worshipped, or so much as used in churches for at 
least four hundred years after Christ; and therefore cer- 
tainly, might things be carried by a fair and impartial 
trial of antiquity, the dispute about this point would soon 



59 Sfrom. 1. 7. p. 724. C. 6 J See Mr. Gregor3;'s Notes and 

60. In Zechariah iii. 8. nnd Observalions upon Scriplure, chap, 

chap. vi. 12. the Messiah is called 18. p. 71, &c. and p. 4, 5, of his 

the BRANCH ; and in Luke i. 78. Preface, with pome other parts of 

the DAY-SPRING : in all which his works printed at London 1665. 

places the original words signify the 62 Concil. Trull. Can. 69. touo. 

EAST, and are so rendered in all vi. Col. 1174. B. 
other versions of the Bible. 



Of the First Rubric. - 91 

be at an end. Nothing can be more clear than that the Sect. II. 
Christians were frequently challenged by the heathens for 
having no images nor statues in their churches, and that 
the Christian apologists never denied it; but industriously 
defended themselves against the charge, and rejected the 
very thoughts of any such thing with contempt and scorn : 
as might be abundantly shewn from Tertullian, Clemens 
Alexandrinus, Origen, Minutius Felix, Arnobius, and 
Lactantius. But 1 shall only cite one of them, and that is 
Origen, who, amongst other things, plainly tells his ad- 
versary (who had objected this to the Christians) that the 
images, that were to be dedicated to God, were not to be 
carved by the hands of artists, but to be formed and 
fashioned in us bv the word of God ; viz. the virtues of 
justice and temperance, of w^isdom and piety, &c. that 
conform us to the image of his only Son. " These," says 
he, " are the only statues formed in our minds ; and by 
'• which alone we are persuaded it is fit to do honour to 
'* him, who is the image of the invisible God, the prototype 
" and archetypal pattern of all such images^^." Had 
Christians then given adoration to them, or but set them 
up in their places of worship ; with what face can we 
suppose they could have told the world, that they so 
much abhorred them? But more than this the council of 
llliberis, that was held in Spain some time before Constan- 
tine, expressly provides against them ; decreeing^'S that 
" no pictures ought to be in the church, nor that anything 
" that is worshipped and adored should be painted upon 
the walls :" words too clear to be evaded by the little 
shifts and glosses which the expositors of that canon would 
put upon it. The first use of statues and pictures in the 
churches was merely historical, or to add some beauty 
and ornament to the place, which after-ages improved into 
superstition and idolatry. The first we meet with upon 
good authority is no older than the times of Epiphanius, 
and then too met with no very welcome entertainment ; 
as may appear from Epiphanius's own Epistle to John then 
Bishop of Jerusalem65 : w^here he says, that coming to 
Anablatha, a village in Palestine, and going into a church 
to pray, he espied a curtain hanging over the door, where- 
upon was painted the image of Christ, or of some saint : 
which when he had looked upon, and saw the image of a 
man hanging up in the church, contrary to the authority 

63 Contr. Ceh. 1. 8. part 2. p. 64 Can. 36. torn. i. col. 974. 
521. E. 65 Epiphan. torn. ii. p. 317. 



92 Of the First Ruh 



nc. 



Cl«ap. II. of the holy Scriptures, he presently rent it, and ordered 

the churchwardens to make u^e of it as a winding-sheet 

for some poor man's burying;. This instance is so home, 
that the patrons of image-worship are at a loss what to 
say to it, and after all are forced to ci'y out against it as 
supposititious ; though the famous Du Pin, who is himself 
of the Romish communion, and doctor of the Sorbon, al- 
lows it to bo genuine, and owns that one reason of its being 
called in question, is because it makes so much against 
that doctrine^^ More might be produced to this pur- 
pose: but by this, 1 hope, it is clear enough, that the 
primitive Christians, as they thought it sufficient to pray 
to God, without making their addresses to saints and an- 
gels ; so they accounted their churches fine enough with- 
out pictures and images to adorn them. 
Decency ^, 5^ ^^d though these afterwards crept in again, and 
e=requ^ became the occasion of idolatry in the times of Popery ; 
site and yet our church at the Reformation not only forbad the; 
necessary, worshipping them, but also quite removed them ; as 
thinking them too false a beauty for the house of God. 
But though she w^ould not let religion be dressed in the 
habit of a wanton ; yet she did not deny lier that of a ma- 
tron : she would have her modest in her garb, but withal 
comely and clean ; and therefore still allowed her enough, 
not only to protect her from shame and contempt, but to 
draw her some respect and reverence too. And no man 
surely can complain, that the ornaments now made use of 
in our churches are too many or too expensive. Good 
men would rather wish that more care was taken of them, 
than there generally seems to be. For sure a decency in 
this regard is comformable to every man''s sense, who pro- 
fesses to retain any reverence for God and religion. The 
magnificence of the first Jewish temple was very accepts 
able to God^^; and the too sparing contributions of the 
people towards the second was what he severely reprov- 
cd^8 ; from whence we may at least infer, that it is by no 
means agreeable to the Divine Majesty, that we turn 
pious clowns and slovens, by running into the contrary'' 
extreme, and worshipping the Lord, not in the beauty^ but 
in the dirt and defoimity, uf holiness. Far from us be 
all ornaments misbecoming the worship of a Spirit, or 
the gi-avity of a church ; but surely it hath a very ill as- 
pect for men to be so sordidly frugal, as to think that well 

66 Hist, of Ecclesiast. WriUr^, 67 1 Kings ix. 3. 
•yol. ii. p. 236. 68 Ilaggai i. and ii. j 



Of the First Rubnc. ' 93 

enongli in God's house, which thoy could not endure Sect. 11, 
even in the meanest offices of their own. But to return — 
to my first design. 

§. 6. When churches are built, they ought to have a Churches 
greater value and esteem derived upon them by some pe- Ipp^^teT 
culiar Consecration : for it is not enough barely to devote ^y a form- 
them to the public services of religion, unless they are aidedica- 
also set apart with the solemn rites of a formal dedication. J'°" ^J 
For by these solemnities the founders surrender all the q^^ 
right they have in them to God, and make God himself 
the sole owner of them. And formerly, whoever gave 
any lands or endowments to the service of God, gave it 
in a formal writing, sealed and witnessed, (as is now usual 
between man and man,) the tender of the gift being made 
upon the altar, by the donor on his knees. The antiqui- 
ty of such dedications is evident, from its being an uni- 
versal custom amongst Jews and Gentiles: and it is ob^ 
servable that amongst the former, at (he consecration of 
both the tabernacle and temple, it pleased the Almighty 
to give a manifest sign that he then took possession of 
themes. When it was first taken up by Christians is not 
easy to determine : though there are no footsteps of any 
such thing to be met with, in any approved writer, till 
the reign of Constantine : in whose time, Christianity be- 
ing become more prosperous and flourishing, churches 
were every where erected and repaired ; and no sooner 
were so, but, as Esebius tells^*^ us, ihey w^ere solemnly 
consecrated, and the dedications celebrated with great 
festivity and rejoicing. The rites and ceremonies used 
upon these occasions (as we find in the same author^^) 
were a great confluence of Bishops and strangers from all 
parts, the performance of divine offices, singing of hymns 
and psalms, reading and expounding the Scriptures, ser- 
mons and orations, receiving the holy sacrament, prayers 
and thanksgivings, liberal alms bestowed on the poor, and 
great gifts given to the church ; and in short, mighty ex- 
pressions of mutual love and kindness, and universal re- 
joicing with one another. And these dedications were Theorigm^ 
always constantly commemorated from that time forward ^^ °[y ^i*'"" 
once a year, and solemnized with great pomp, and much ^^ *" ^'^ 
confluence of people 5 the solemnity usually lasting eight 
days together"^^ : a custom observed with us till the 

69 Exod. xl.34. 1 Kings viii. 10, 71 Ibid, et de Vita Const. 1. 4. ' 
11. c. 42, 43. p. 546, &c. 

70 Hist. Eccl. 1. 10, c. 3. p. 370, 72 Niceph. Cal. Hipt. Ecd. 1, 8, 

c. 50. torn, i, p. 653. B. 



94 Of the First Rubiic. 

Chap. H. twenty-eightli year of Henry VIH. when, by a decree of 
"■"~~~~ convocation confirmed by that king, the feast of dedica- 
tion was ordered to be celebrated in all places throughout 
England on one and the same day, viz. on the first Sundae/ 
of Octoher^^. Whether that feast be continued now in 
any parts of the kingdom, I cannot tell ; for as to the 
Wakes which are still observed in many country villages, 
and generally upon the next Sunday that follows the 
saint's day whose name the church bears ; I take them to 
be the remains of the old church holy-days, which were 
feasts kept in memory of the saints to whose honour the 
churches were dedicated, and who were therefore called 
The name the patrons of the churches.''*. For though all churches 
of angels or ^ygj-g dedicated to none but God, as appears by the grara- 
tochurdf" "^^tical construction of the word church, which signifies 
es. nothing else but the^* Lord's house ; yet at their conse- 

cration they were generally distinguished by the name of 
some angel or saint : chiefly that the people, by frequent- 
ly mentioning them, might be excited to imitate the virtues 
for which they had been eminent ; and also that those 
holy saints themselves might by that means be kept in 
remembrance. 
Great re- §. 7. Though I have already been so long upon this 
spect and head, yet I cannot conclude it, till I have observed what 
reverence rggpect and reverence those primitive Christians used to 
the dIuTch- sh^w in the church, as the solemn place of worship, and 
€3 by the where God did more peculiarly manifest his presence, 
primitive ^p(] j^js ^ve find to have been very great. " They came 
Christians. ^, .^^^ ^j^^ church (saith St. ^^ Chrysostem) as into the pa- 
'' lace of the great King, with fear and trembling ;" upon 
which account he there presses the highest modesty and 
gravity upon them. Before their going into the church 
they used to wash, atleast their hands, asTertullian pro- 
bably intimates^^, and Chrysostem expressly tells us'^, 
carrying themselves while they were there with the pro- 
foundcst silence and devotion. Naj'-, so great was the re- 
verence they bore to the church, that the Emperor's them^ 
selves, (who otherwise never went without their guard 
about them,) when they went into the church, used to 

73 See Bp. Gibson's Codex, p. and by adding; letters of aspiratioD, 
276. Chyrch or Church. 

74 See the conflitution of Simon 76 In Ep. ad Hebr. c. \\. Hora. 
Islep 1362, in Ri-l>op Gibson, p. 15- turn. iv. p. 515. l'-'^. ult. 

280. or in Mr. J(i]m-onV«< Collec- 77 De Oratione, c. li p. 133, 

tion of Eccle8ia.«tio.:i Laws. C 

75 From Kypjxit,) (which figni- 78 In Johan. 13. Horn. 72. torn. 
des the Lord's house) comes Kyre, »i. p. 861. lin. 23. 



Of the First Rubric. 95 

lay down their arms, to leave their guard behind them, Sect III. 

and to put otT their crowns ; reckoning that the less osten- " 

tation they made of power and greatness there, the more 
firmly the imperial majesty would be entailed upon them?^. 
Examples, one would think, sufficient to excite us to use 
all such outward testimonies of respect as are enjoined by 
the church, and established by the custom of the age we 
live in, as marks of honour and reverence : a duty recom- 
mended by Solomon, who charges us to look to our feet 
zohen we go into the house of God^'^ ; being an allusion in 
particular to the rite of pulling off the shoes used by the 
Jews, and other nations of the East, when they came into 
sacred places^i ; and is as binding upon us to look to our- 
selves by uncovering our heads^ and giving all other ex- 
ternal testimonies of reverence and devotion. 

Sect. III. Of the Ministers^ or persons officiating in 
Divine Service, 



Another thing mentioned in this rubric are the Mi- The ne- 
nisters ; by whom we are to understand those who, fee- arinJ °^ * 
ing taken from among men, are ordained for men, in things commis- 
pertaining to God : an honour, which no man taketh to him- sion to 
self but he that is called of God, as was Aaron^^; for the <i"aljfya 
ministerial office is of so high a nature, that nothing but any sacred 
a divine commission can qualify any person for the exe- office, 
cution of it. The ministers of religion are the represen- proved. 
tatives of God Almighty: they are to publish his laws, First, from 
and to pass his pardons, and to preside in his worship, o^f^^^^f!^ 
God has committed to them the keys of tJie kingdom q/*fice itself, 
heaven ; and whosesoever sins they remit, they shall be, re- 
mitted: whosesoever sins they retain, they shall be retained. 
They are the stewards of the mysteries of God, and the 
dispensers of his holy word and sacraments ; in a word, 
they are the ambassadors of heaven : and on their mini- 
strations the assistance of the holy Spirit and all the 
graces of a good life depend. All these characters and 
powers are ascribed to them in Scripture ; and conse- 
quently do sufficiently demonstrate the dignity of their 
office, and are a plain argument that none but God him- 
self can give them their commission. For who dares, 
without the express orders of heaven, undertake an office. 



70 Codex Theodos. lib. 9. Tit. 81 Exod. Hi. 5. Josh. v. 15- 
15. le?. 4. torn. iii. p. 363. 82 Heb. v. 1, 4. 

80 Eccies. V. 1. 



96 Of the First Ruhric, 

Chap. II. 'vvhich includes so many and such great particulnrS? 
' Should any one take upon him the character of an am- 

bassador; should he offer terms of peace to enemies 5 
pretend to naturalize foreigners^ andgrant pardons, with- 
out a commission from the supreme Magistrate ; as all his 
acts would be null and void, so he would be highly cri- 
minal, and Hable to the severest punishment. The ap- 
plication is so easy, that the very heathens would never 
venture to officiate in religious matters, without a suppos- 
ed inspiration from heaven, or a previous initiation by 
those, whom they thought entrusted by the Deity for 
that purpose. 
Secondlj, Among the Jews none could approach the presence of 
cor^tanf ^^^' ^"^ ^"^^ ^^ ^^^^ particularly appointed by him. 
practice of When God instituted offerings and sacrifices, and the 
the Jews, other positive parts of his worship ; he at the same time 
set apart a peculiar order of men to be the administrators 
of them. So that the persons who were to minister were 
equally of divine institution with the ministrations them- 
selves. Thus Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, were 
consecrated by the express command of God to Moses®^ 
and had all of them their distinct commissions from hea- 
ven : and no less than death was the penalty of invading 
their office^*. Nay, God was more than ordinary jealous 
of this honour, and vindicated it even at the expence of 
several miracles. Thus, when Corah and his company 
(though Levites, and consequently nearer to the Lord in 
holy matters than the rest of the congregation) usurped 
the priest's office ; God Almighty miraculously destroyed 
both them and their associates : and their censers were 
ordered to be beaten into broad plates, and fixed on the 
altar, to be everlasting monuments of their sacrilege, and 
a caution to all the children of Israel, that none should 
presume to offer incense before the Lord, but the seed oi 
Aaron, who alone were commissioned to this office^^ So 
also Uzzah was by the immediate hand of God struck 
dead on the spot for touching the ark, though he did it 
out of zeal to hinder it from falling ; to shew that no pre- 
tence of doing God service can justify meddling in holy 
things8<5. Saul, for offering sacrifice, (though he thought 
himself under a necessity of doing so,) lost hib^' kingdom ; 
and King Uzziah, attempting to burn incense before the 



83 Lev. viii. Nnmb. iii. 5. &;c. 86 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7v 

i34 iN'uinb. iii. 10. and Jiviii. 7- ^7 1 Saiu. xiii. 

85 Numb. xvi. 



Of Ihe First Rubric. 9"? 

Lord, was judiciallj smitten with leprosy, and so ex- Sect. llU 
eluded for evor after, not only from all sacred, but even "** '"^ 
civil society^^. A plain argument, that the Sacerdotal is 
not included in the Regal office^ nor derived from thence^ 
but ihat, on the contrary, it is of a distinct nature and in- 
stitution. 

And, as St. Jerom rightly observes^^, " What Aaron 
" and his sons and the Levites were in the temple ; such 
" are the Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons in the Chris- 
" tian church.'' These are appointed by God, as those 
were; and therefore it can be no less sacrilege to usurp 
their office. Nay, it must be far greater; because the 
honour of the ministry rises in proportion to the dignity 
of their ministration; and therefore as it cannot be de- 
nied, but that realities are more valuable than types, and 
that heaven is better than the land of Canaan ; so the sa- 
craments of the Gospel are certainly to be preferred be- 
fore all the offerings and expiations of the Law. 

And if we would but consider our Saviour's example^ Thirdly, 
we should find that, though he wanted no gift to qualify from the 
him for this office, as having the divine nature inseparably 'example of 
United to his human, and giving sufficient evidence of his yjour. 
abilities, when but twelve years old ; and though the ne* 
cessities of mankind called loudly for such an instructor; / 
yet he would not enter upon his office, till he was exter- 
nally commissioned thereto by the visible descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon him, and by an audible voice from hea- 
ven, proclaiming him to be the Messiah, when he was 
about thirty years old* All the former part of his life he 
spent in a private capacity; doubtless to teach us, that no 
internal qualifications, no good end nor intention, can 
warrant a man's exercising any holy function, without a 
divine commission. 

And we may observe that, though our Saviour had Fourthlv-j 
many followers, yet none of them presumed to preach, or ^''^^'"^ !^'^ 

, y f 1 ^ 1 rn -11 1 practice of 

baptize, or periorm any other sacred omce, till they were the Apo- 
particularly commissioned by him^ He first ordained sties. 
tzoelve, tliat they migfil be with him; and that he, might send 
(hem forth to preachy and to have power to heal sicknesses, 
and to cast out deviW^ ; and afterwards the other seventy^ 
which went out upon a like errand, were especially ap- 
pointed by him^^ So liiiewise, after his resurrection, 
when he advanced the eleven to be Apostles, he did ii in 

88 2 Chron. xxvi. 16, &c. 90 Mark iii. 14, 15, 

89 i=iib fine Kpistolre ad Erngriura. 01 Luke x. 1. 

M 



98 Of the First Ruhric, 

Chap. II. a most solemn manner : first breathing on them, and coiTi- 
municating to them the Holy Ghost; and then, after he 
had assured them of his own authority, he gave them the 
power of the keys, and authority to exercise all the holy 
offices in the Christian church, and to convey the same 
authority to others ; promising them that he would be al- 
ways with them and their successors, even to the end of the 
zvorld; and ratify and confirm what was done in his name, 
and agreeable to this commission. From whence it is 
plain, that it was our Saviour's express will and intention, 
that all those, who are Ministers in his church, should 
either mediately or immediately derive their authority 
from him. And accordingly we may observe, that, in the 
beginning of Christianity, all those who officiated in di- 
vine matters received their commission either from Christ 
himself, or from apostolical hands, and very commonly 
from both. The seven Deacons were constituted by the 
Apostles^^ ; and St. Paul and St. Barnabas ordained El- 
ders in every church which they planted^^. The other 
Apostles used the same method, as did also the succes- 
sors after them, as is sufficiently evident from Scripture 
and antiquity ; which abundantly proves the necessity of 
divine commission, in order to the being a minister in the 
Christian church. 
The ne- §. 2. If it be asked, who may be truly said to have the 

cessity of (jiyine commission? we need not doubt to affirm, that 
ordfaation. none but those who are ordained by such as we now com- 
monly call Bishops, can have any authority to minister in 
the Christian church. For that the power of ordination is 
solely lodged in that order, shall be proved from the in- 
. stitution of our Saviour, and the constant practice of the 
Apostles. That the power of ordination lodged in the 
Aposdes was of divine institution, I suppose no one will 
question, who reads these words of our Saviour to them,' 
after his resurrection : As my Father sent me, so send 1 
you^* ; and, Lo, I am with you ahuays, even unto the end of 
the worW^ : from whence it is evident, first. That it was 
by a divine commission, that our Saviour ordained or 
sent his Apostles. Secondly, That, by virtue of the same 
commission, the Aposdes were at that time empowered to 
ordain or send others. And, thirdly. That this commis- 
sion to ordain was always to continue in the Christian 
church, and to remain in such hands as the Apostles 

92 Acts vi. 6. 94 John xx. 21. 

93 Acts xiv. 23. 05 Matih. xxviii. 20. 



Of the First Rubric. 99 

should convey it to. From whence it naturally follows, Sect. III. 

that whoever has a power to ordain, must derive it from 

the commission which our Saviour received from God, 
and gave to his Apostles, and was by them conveyed to 
their successors. The only way then to know in whose 
hands this commission is now lodged, is, to inquire what 
persons were appointed by the Apostles to succeed them 
in this office. Now it is plain to any one who will read Thr«e cli«^ 
the Scripture without prejudice, that there were three dis- 1!"^* ^'J" 
tinct orders of Ministers in the Christian church, in the ^^.^ ^^ ^^e 
Apostles' days, which were designed to continue to the n':ini3try 
end of the world. For besides those two, which our ad- by the 
versaries allow, viz. Deacons, and Presbyters or Elders, P°^ ^^' 
(which latter are also sometimes called Bishops,) we read 
of another order, which were superior to, and had au- 
thority over, both these : such as were the Apostles, and 
Timothy and Titus, and others. For it is plain from the 
epistles St. Paul wrote to the two last mentioned, that 
they presided over the Presbyters. They had power to 
enforce them to their duty, to receive accusations against 
them, and judicially to pass sentence upon them': which 
abundantly proves their superiority. And several others 
were constituted by the Apostles to the same office : such 
were St. James surnamed the Just, and Epaphroditus, 
who were termed Apostles or Bishops by all aniiquity : 
such doubtless were those whom St. Paul calls Apostles of 
the Churches^ and joins with Titus^'': and such also were 
those Angels of the churches, mentioned in the book of the 
Revelation. 

Some indeed have been pleased to tell us, that " These 
" were extraordinary officers^ and so of temporary institu- 
" tion only." But this is said without sluj ground or 
plausible pretence. That they were sometimes sent upon 
extraordinary messages, and had a power, upon an oc- 
casion, to do extraordinary things, such as miracles, &c. 
is very true : but then the same is to be said of the other 
orders as well as this. Philip was only a Deacon, and 
yet God employed him in several extraordinary matters. 
And working of miracles was so common in the beginning 
of Christianity, that ordinary Christians were frequently 
endued with thispower^^ So that, if this were an argu- 
ment for the temporary institution of one order, it must 
he so too for all the rest ; which they, who make the ob- 

96 2 Cor. viii. 23. 97 Mark xvi. 17, 18. Acts x, 46. 

and xix. 6. 1 Cor. xii. 10, 28. 



100 Of the First Ruhric, 

Chap. II. jection, dare not say, and therefore acknowledge there is 

'^^' no force in it. 

But they farther urge, that '' Timothy was an Evan- 
" gelist ; because St. Paul bids him do the zvork of an 
^- Evangelisf^.'^' But to this we answer, that an Evange- 
list was no distinct officer at any time in the Christian 
church. For the proper notion of an Evangelist in the 
Acts and St. Paul's Epistle is, one who was eminently 
qualified to preach the Gospel, and had taken greatpains 
therein. Thus Philip was called an Evangelist^^ who 
was no more than a Deacon ; and could only preach and 
baptize, and had not the power of laying on of hands, 
which Timothy had : and therefore the office of Philip 
w-as far inferior to that of Timothy. Whence it is evi- 
dent, that allowing Timothy to be an Evangelist, yet his 
power over Presbyters did not accrue to him upon that 
account. Nor does Timothy's being an Evangelist prove 
the office of ruling and ordaining Presbyters to be pecur 
liar to an Evangelist ; any more than Philip's being called 
an Evangelist proves the office of preaching and baptizing 
to be so. 

From what has been said therefore it plainly appears 
that there were three distinct orders set apart to the mi- 
nistry by the Apostles. Our next inquiry then is, to how 
many, or to Avhich of these, the power of ordination w^as 
committed. Now that the lowest order (viz. that of Dea- 
cons) had not this power, is by all confessed : and that 
the highest order (of which Timothy and Titus were; had 
it, we are assured by the express testimony of St. Paul. 

Presbyfera ^^^ ^"b' question then is, whether the second order (viz. 

were never that of Presbyters) was ever invested with this power. 

invested 'fhe affirmative of which question can never be proved 

with the ^^.Q^^ Scripture or antiquity. For, 

power of 1 • r • 1 '^ r 1 ' r 

pj-dination. r irst. It IS involous to argue from the community of 
names, to the sameness of office. For any reasonable man 
will grant, that the words Bishop and Presbyter being 
promiscuously used, and mere Presbyters being frequently 
called Bishops in Scripture, does not prove, that therefore 
all the powers, which belong to those we now call Bi- 
shops, were ever lodged in those Presbyters. The only 
method then, to prove that the power of ordination be- 
longs to Presbyters, is, to shew, that whoever were in 
Scripture called by the name of Presbyters or Bishops 
were invested with that power: which can never be done. 

SS 2 Tiifl. iv. 5. 99 Aclsxxi. 8. 



Of the First Rubric. IQl 

For if Presbyters or Elders bad ibe power of ordination Sect IIT. 

lodged intbem, for what reasons can we suppose that St. ' 

Paul should leave Titus in Crete on purpose to ordain El- 
ders in every cily^ (as he tells tiim he did\) when we know 
that that island had been converted to Christianity long 
before Titus came thither ; and therefore doubtless had 
many Presbyters among them, to preach and administer 
the sacraments to the inhabitants? Nor, 

Secondlj^ Can this be proved from that often quoted 
passage^, where St. Paul exhorts Timothy not to neglect 
the gift that zvas in him^ zohich was given him by prophecy^ 
Tvith the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. For, aU 
lowing that Timothy's ordination is here spoken of, (which 
yet many learned men have questioned,) it is manifest that 
the Apostles themselves were often called by the name of 
Presbyters. And so the Presbyters here mentioned may 
very probably be the Apostles. We are sure that St. Paul 
was one of them, and that he ascribes the whole of Ti- 
mothy's ordination to his own laying on of hands^ : and 
therefore the utmost that can be deduced from the text is 
this, viz. That one or more of such as Avere mere Presby- 
ters might lay on their hands in concurrence with him, 
to testify their consent and approbation; as is the custom 
at this day in the ordination ot a Presbyter, and has been 
sometimes done at the consecration of a Bishop''. Nor, 

Thirdly, Can it be inferred from any ot the charges or 
directions given by St. Paul in his epistles to either Bi- 
shops or Presbyters, that they had ever any thing like the 
power of ordination : which makes it more than proba- 
ble, that wherever the word Bishop is found in Scripture, 
as applied to an ecclesiastical officer after our Saviour, the 
middle order is always neant^ For though the Apostles 
are sometimes called Presbvters and Deacons, yet they 
are never called Bishops. Their office is once indeed 
called ''E.7cia-Ko'Ji% i. c. a Bishopric^ : but wherever we meet 
with ''Ettitkcttoj, i, e^ Bishops, either in the Acts of the A- 
postles, or the Epistles, we may very well understand the 
middle order, which we now call Presbyters. And as for 
those whom we now call Bishops, they were, in the first 
age of the church, styled Apostles." For so St. Paul, 

1 Titus 1. 5. TCrsion of Ihe New Testament, the 

2 1 Tim. iv. 14. word 'Et/Vxo^o? is usually rfiider- 

3 2 Tinj. i. 6. ed by Presbyter, and E7n,T)co7r» 

4 Vid. Bevereg. in Can. Apost. by Presbyteratus. Vide Bevtreg. 
]. p. 11. ad fin. col- 2. in Can. Apost. 2, p. 13. col. 1. 

5 And Iberefore iu the Syriac 6 Acts i. 20, 



102 Of the First Rubric, 

Chap. IL speaking to the Philippians concerning Epaphroditus",caIls 
him his brother and companion in labour, Of^av ^e 'a^toV^Aov, 
but your .Apostle ; (for so the word ought to be rendered, 
dLiidinoi Messenger, as in our translation;) an office which 
it is probable St. Paul ordained him to, when he sent him 
with this epistle: for which reason, he charges them to 
receive him in the Lord -with all gladness, and to hold such in 
reputation^. And Epaphroditus is accordingly, by all an- 
tiquity, reckoned the lirst Bishop of Philippi. So that 
the apostolical office was not temporary, but designed to 
continue in the church of Christ. And therefore the A- 
postles took care to ordain some to succeed them, who 
were at first called by the same name, though they af- 
terwards in modesty <{eclined so high a title; as is ex- 
pressly affirmed by Theodoret, who tells us^ " That for- 
'• merly the same persons were called both Presbyters 
'• and Bishops; and those now called Bishops were then 
" called Apostles; but in process of time the name of 
" Apostle was left to those Apostles strictly so called, and 
'• the name of Bishops ascribed to all the rest." And 
Pacianus, a writer in the fourth century, affirms the same 
thing^^. So that, grantmg mere Presbyters to be Scripture- 
Bishops, which some have so earnestly contended for; 
yet nothing can from thence be inferred, to prove them to 
have equal power with those we now call Bishops, who 
are successors of a higher order. 

And to what has been said, we might, for farther proof, 
add the joint testimony of all Christians for near fifteen 
hundred years together; and challenge our adversaries to 
produce one instance of a valid ordination by Presbyters 
in all that time. It seems therefore very strange, that, if 
Presbyters ever had the power of ordination, they should 
so tamely give up their right, without any complaint, or 
so much as leaving any thing upon record, to witness their 
original authority to after-ages. In short, we have as 
much reason to believe that the power of ordination is 
appropriated to those we now call Bishops, as we have 
to believe the necessary continuance of any one positive 
ordinance in the Gospel. 



7 Chap. ii. 25. See also 2 Cor. 9 In 1 Tim. ili. 1. torn. iii. p. 

viii. 23. GhI. i. 19. in both which 473. I). 

jilaces, by the original word \\,ToVo- 10 Pacian. Episc. Barcelonens. 

?.ot, are to be nncierstood Uju=e we ad Seinpronianum de Catholico 

now call Bi'hops. Nomine. Ep. 1. aput; Bihliothec. 

S rhil. ii, ^;9, S. S. Patnim torn. iii. col. 431. 

Paris. 1589. 



Of the First Rubric. 1 03 

And now, (to sum up all that has been said in few Sect. IV, 

words,) a commission to ordain was given to none but the " 

Apostles, and their successors. And to extend it to any 
inferior order, is without warrant in Scripture or anti- 
quity. For every commission is naturally exclusive of 
all persons, except those to whom it is given. So that, 
since it does not appear, that the commission to ordain, 
which the Apostles received from our Saviour, was ever 
granted to any but such as must be acknowledged to be 
of a superior order to that of Presbyters, which superior 
order is the same with that of those we now call Bishops ; 
therefore it follows, that no others have any pretence 
thereunto ; and consequently none but such as are or- 
dained by Bishops can have any title to minister in the 
Christian church. 



Sect. IV. Of the Ministerial Ornaments, 

± HE Second part of this rubric is concerning the or- What or- 

naments of the church, and the ministers thereof, at all times '^^'^^"^^ 

^ , . -i . . ',, , 1*^ *^6 meant 

of their ministrations : and to know what they are, we must in the ru- 

have recourse to the Act of Parliament here mentioned, brie, 
vi^ in the second year of the reign of King Edward the 
Sixth ; which enacts, That all and singular Ministers, in 
any Cathedral or Parish-church, (^c, shall, after the feast of 
Pentecost next coming, be bounden to say the MattenSf Exen- » 
ing Song, ^c. and the administration of the Sacraments, and 
all the common and open Prayer, in such order and form as 
is mentioned in the said book, (viz. first book of Edward VI.) 
and not other or otherwise. So that by this Act we are 
again referred to the first Common Prayer Book of King 
Edward VI. for the habits in which ministers are to offi- 
ciate ; where there are two rubrics relating to them, one '^ 
prescribing what habits shall be worn in all public mini- 
strations whatsoever, the other relating only to the habits 
that are to be used at the Communion. The first is in the 
last leaf of the book, and runs thus : 

In the saying or singing of Mattens, or Even-Song, Bap- 
tizing and Burying, the Minister in Parish-churches and Cha- 
pels annexed to the same shall use a Surplice, And in all 
Cathedral Churches and Colleges, Archdeacons, Beans, Pro- 
vosts, Masters, Prebendaries, and Fellov)s, being Graduate's^ 
may use in the Choir, besides their Surplices, such Hoods as 
pertain to their several degrees which they have hvlden in any 
University within this realm^ but in all other places every 



104 Of the First Rubric, 

Chap. II. Minister & hall be at liberty to use any SurpUte or no. It is 
" also seemly that Graduates^ when they do preach, should use 

such Hoods as pertaineth to their several Degrees, 

And whenever the Bishop shall celebrate the holy Commu- 
nion in the Church, or execute any other public ministration ; 
he shall have upon him, beside his Rochette, a Suplice, or 
Alb, and a Cope, or Vestment, and also his Pastoral Staff in 
his hand, or else borne or holden by his Chaplain, 

The other rubric that relates to the habits that are to 
be worn by the minister at the Communion, is at the be- 
ginning of that office, and. runs thus: 

Upon the day, and at the time oppointed for the minisfra-i 
tion of the holy Communion, the Priest that shall execute the 
holy ministry, shall put upon him the Vesture appointed for 
that ministration, that is to say, a white Alb plain, with a 
Vestment or Cope. And where there be many Priests or Dea- 
cons, there so many shall be ready to help the Priest in the 
ministration^ as shall he requisite. And shall have upon them 
likewise the Vestures appointed for the ministry, that is to 
say, Albes with Tunicles, 

These are the ministerial ornaments enjoined by our 
present rubric. But because the Surplice is of the most 
general use, and what is most frequently objected against ; 
1 shall therefore speak more largely of that, and only 
give a short account of the rest. 
¥he Siir« ]. As to the name of Surplice, which comes from the 
^'^^^^ii^rl^^ Latin Super pelliceum, I can give no better account of it, 
than what I can put together from Durand, who tells us 
fit was so called, because anciently this garment was put 
super tunicas pellicas de pellibue mortuorum animalium faC" 
fa^, upon leathern coats made of the hides of dead beasts, 
symbolically to represent that the offence of our first pa- 
rents, which brought us under a necessity of wearing gar- 
ments of skin, was now hid and covered by the grace of 
Christ, and that therefore we are clothed with the emblem 
of innocence^^ But whencesoever came the name, the 
thing certainly is good. 
The anti- For if it be thought necessary for Princes and Magi-- 
qiiity, law- strates to wear distinct habits, in the execution of their 
and^^ecen- public offices, to preserve an awful respect to their royal- 
cyof it. ty and justice; there is the same reason for a different 
habit when God's ambassadors publicly officiate. And 
accordingly we find that, under the Law, the Jewish Priests ''j 
wcrcj by God's own appointment, to wear decent sacred 

11 Durand. Rrvtional. \ 3. c. 1 numb. 10. U, 12. 



Of the First Rubric. 105 

vestments at all times^^ ; but at the time of public service, Sect. IV. 
they were to have, besides those ordinary garments, a 
zvhite linen EphoiV^, From the Jews it is probable the 
Egyptians learned this custom to wear no other garments 
but only of white linen, looking on that to be the fittest, 
as being the purest covering for those that attended on 
divine service". And Philostratus tells us, that the 
Brachmans or Indian Priests wore the same sort of gar- 
ments for the same reasons^^ From so divine an original 
and spreading a practice, the ancient Christians brought 
them into use for the greater decency and solemnity of 
divine service. St. Jerom at one and the same time 
proves its ancient use, and reproves the needless scruples 
of such as oppose it. '* What offence," saith he, " can 
*' it be to God, for a Bishop or Priest, &:c. to proceed to 
" the Communion in a white garment^® ?" The antiquity 
of it in the Eastern Church appears from Gregory Na- 
zianzen, who adviseth the Priests to purity, because " a 
I ^" little spot is soon seen in a white garment"." And it is 
]( very probable that it was used in the Western Church in 
the time of St, Cjprian; for Pontius, in his account of 
that father's martyrdom, says, that " there was a bench 
" by chance covered with a white linen cloth, so that at 
i " his passion he seemed to have some of the ensigns of '^^' 
" the episcopal honour^*." From whence we may gather, 
that a white garment was used by the clergy in those 
times. 

§. 2. The colour of it is very suitable ; for it aptly re- The colour 
presents the innocence and righteousness wherewith God's of it, why 
ministers ought to be clothed^^. And it is observable, ^'^'^^' 
that the Ancient of days^^ is represented as having gar- 
ments white as snow ; and that when our Saviour was 
transfigured, his raiment was white as the light^'^ ; and that 
whenever angels have appeared to men, they have always 
been clothed in white apparel^^. 

§. 3. The substance of it is Linen, for Woollen would Why made 
be thought ridiculous, and Silk would scarce be aflforded : of linen. 

12 Exod, xxviii. and xxix. 17 Orat. 31. torn. i.p. 504. A. 

13 Exod. xxviii. 4.' 1. Sam. ii. 18 Pont. Diao. in Vita S. Cy- 
18. prian. p. 9. praefix. Opetibus Cy- 

14 Apul. in Apol. Part 1. p. 64. prian. 
Paris. 1655. Vid. Hieron. inEzek. 19 Psalm cxxxii. 9. 
xliv. 17. torn. iv. p. 476. D. 20 Daniel vii. 9. 

15 Philoftr. Vit. Apol. Tyan. 1. 21 Matt. xvii. 2. 
3.C. 15. p. 106. Lipsiae ]'709. 22 Matt, xxviii. 3. Markxvi.5. 

16 Adv. Pelag. ]. i. c. 9. torn. Acts i. 10. Rev. vi. 11. vii.9.xv. 
ii. p. 565. F. G. 6. six. 8, 14. 

N 



1 OG Of the Firs I Rubric. 

Chap. IT. and we mav observe, that under the Jewish dispensation 
' God himself ordered that the" priests should not gird them- 

selves with any tiling that caused sweat ;'^ to signify the pu- 
rity of heart that ought to be in those that were set apart 
to the performance of divine service; for which reason 
the Jewish Ephods were linen^*, as were also most of the 
other garments which the piHests wore during the mini- 
strations^^ The Levites also that were singers were^ 
arrayed in white linen^^, and the armies that followed the 
Lamb were clothed in fine linen^"^ ; and to the Lamb's 
wife was granted, ihat she should be arrayed inline linen 
white and clean; for the fine linen is, i. e. represents, the 
righteousness of Saints^^. 
The shape §. 4. As for the shape of it, it is a thing so perfectly 
^^^^' indifferent, that it admits of no dispute. The present 

mode is certairdy grave and convenient, and, in the opi- 
nion of Durand, significant; who observes, that as the 
garments used by the Jewish priesthood were girt tight 
about them, to signify the bondage of the Law ; so the 
looseness of the Surplices, used by the Christian priests, 
signifies the freedom of the GospeP. 
Objections §• 5. But neither its significancy nor decency will pro- 
answered, tect it from objections : for first, some tell us,*"' It is a rag " 
" of Popery:" an objection that proves nothing but the 
ignorance of those that make it: for white garments (let 
them be called what they will) were of use among the ^1 
most primitive Christians. Nor need our adversaries do ' 
the Church of Rome a greater kindness, or wound the 
Protestant religion more deeply, than by granting that [ 
white garments and Popery are of the same antiquity, ' 

They tell us, secondly. That " it has been abused by 
" the Papists to superstitious and idolatrous uses." But to 
this we answer, That it is not the Priest's using a Surplice, 
that either makes their worship idolatrous or supersdtious, 
or increases the idolatry or superstition of it. For the 
worship of the Roman Church is idolatrous aud supersti- 
tious, whether the Priest be clothed in white, or black, or 
any other colour. All therefore that our adversaries can 
mean is this, viz. that the Surplice has been worn by the 
Papists, when they have practised idolatry and supersti- 
tion: and this we grant: but then it does not follow, that 



23 Ezek. xliv. 18. 27 Rev. xlx. 14. 

24 I Sara. ii. 18. 28 Rev. xix. 8. 

25 Lev. xvi. 4. Ezek. xllv. 17, 29 Rational. Divin. Offic. 1. 3. 
18. c. 3. numb. 3. fol. 67. 

26 2 Chron. v. 12. 



Of the First Rubric. 107 

a Surplice of itself is either unlawful or inexpedient. Sect. IV. 

For white garments had, in this sense, been abused to su- 

perstitious and idolatrous uses, before Daniel represented 
God himself as wearing such garments ; and before our 
Saviour wore them; and before the Angels and Saints 
were represented as clothed with them ; and before they 
became the ministerial ornaments of the primitives times. 
But surely, if such an abuse made tlicm unlawful or inex- 
pedient, it cannot he conceived, that the primitive church, 
and the inspired writers, nay, God himself, would so 
plainly countenance them. 

JI. Next to the Surplice, that which is of most frequent Of (he 
use in the celebration of divine service is the Hood, or ^^o^^- 
the habit denoting the degree which the person officiating 
has taken in the University. This in Latin is called Ca- 
pulium or CucuUus ; though of the two nan^ies the latter 
seems to be the more proper and ancient. For the Cucul- By whom 
lus was a habit among the ancient Romans, being a coarse ^'"^^ ^^'^^' 
covering for the head, broad at one end for the head to 
go in, and then lessening gradually till it ended in a 
poinl^o. 

§. 2. From the Ptomans the use of it Vv-as taken up by Why used 
the old Monks and Ascetics: who, as soon as they began ^y *^® 
in tlie church, made choice of this habit as suitable to ^""' '^' 
that strict reservedness which they professed. For when 
this was drawfi over their faces, it at once prevented them 
from gazing at others, or being stared at themselves. And 
as the several orders of Monks grew up, there was hardly 
any one of them but had the Hood or Cowl, only a little 
varied in the cut or fashion of it. But generally it was 
contrived so, that in cold or wet weather it might be a 
covering to the head ; or at other times, when they pleas- 
ed, they mi2:ht let it fall back behind them, hanging upon 
their neck by the lower end, after the same manner as it 
now is generally used with us. 

§. 3. After this it came to be used by the several mem- Why used 
bers of Cathedral Churches and Colleges, though they jfra^f^^d" 
were not allowed to have the same sort of Hoods as the univeia- 
Monks. And from these the Universities took the use of ties, 
it, to denote the difference of degrees among their mem- 
bers ; varying the materials, colour, and fashion of it, ac- 
cording to the degree ?of the person that wears it. And 
that these academical honours (which always entitle those 
they are conferred upon to the greater respect and esteem 

30 Martial. ]ib. 5. Epigr. 14. lin. 6. Juvenal. Sat. 8. v. 145, 



108 



Of the First Ruhrii 



Of the Ro 
chelte. 



Chap. II. of the people) might be known abroad as well as in 

the Universities ; the church enjoins (both bj this rubrc 

and her^' canons) that every minister, who is a graduate, 
shall wear his proper Hood during the time of divine 
service, but forbidding all that are not graduates to wear 
it, under pain of suspension ; allowing them, in the room 
of it, to wear upon their surplices some decent tippet 
of black, so it be not silk^^. 

III. The next ministerial ornament the rubric above 
cited enjoins is the Rochcltc, a linen habit peculiar to the 
Bishop, and worn under what we call the Chimere. The 
author of the acts of St. Sjprian's martyrdom says, that 
that father went to his execution in this pontifical habit^^ ; 
but whether this seems probable, 1 shall leave the reader 
to judge : however it is certain the use of it is ancient, it 
being described by Bede in the seventh century^'*. In the 
following ages the Bishops were obliged, by the canon 
law, to wear their.Rochettes whenever they appeared in 
public'*: which practice was constantly kept up in Eng- 
land till the Reformation : but since that time the Bishops 
have not used to wear them at any place out of the 
Church, except in the Parliament-House, and there al- 
ways with the Chimere, or upper robe, to which the 
lawn-sleeves are generally sewed ; which before and after 
the Reformation, till Queen Elizabeth's time, was always 
of scarlet silk ; but Bishop Hooper scrupling first at the 
robe itself, and then at the colour of it, as too light and 
gay for the episcopal gravity, it was changed for a Chi- 
mere of black satin^^. 

IV. The other things prescribed and enjoined by the 
forementioned rubrics (though now grown obselete and 
out of use) are the Alb, the Cope, the Tunicle, and the 
Pastoral Staff'. The Alb was a very ancient habit worn 
by ministers in the administration of the Communion, and 
appears, by the description given of it by Durand^^, to 
have been a kind of linen garment, made fit and close to 
the body like a cassock, tied round in the middle with a 
girdle, or sash, with the sleeves either plain like the 
sleeves of a cassock, or else gathered close at the hands 



Of the 

Chimere. 



Of the Alb 



31 Can. 17, 25, 58. 

32 Can. 58. 

33 Vh]. Saronius's Anuals, Ann. 
261. f.40, 41. 

34 \Uu\e. de Tabernar. citat. ab. 
Almario, in Biblioth. Patr. 1. 10. 
p. 389. 



35 Decretal. 1.3. Tit. l.cap. 15. 

36 See Hody's History of Con- 
vocat. p. 141. 

37 Durand Rational, lib. 3. cap. 
3. fol. 67. See also Dr. Watt's, in 
hit Glossary at the end of his edi- 
tion of Matthew Pari?. 



Of the First Rubric. 109 

like a shirt sleeve ; being made in that fashion, I suppose, Sect IV . 
for the convcniencj of the minister, and to prevent his — " 
being hindered in the consecration and delivery of the 
elements, by its being too large and open. They were 
formerly embroidered with various colours, and adorned 
with frinoes'8 : but these our church does not admit of 
though it still enjoins a while Alb plain. 

V. Over this Alb, the Priest that shall execute the holy Of the 
ministry, (i. e. consecrate the elements,) is to wear a p^e^f. "Vestment 
ment or Cope^^ , which the Bishop also is to have upon ^^ ^^^' 
him when he executes any public ministration. This an- 
swers to the Colohimn used by the Latin, and the X^y^xc^ 
used by the Greek Church. It was at first a common habit, 
being a coat without sleeves, but afterw'ards used as a 
church-vestment, only made very rich hj embroidery and 
the like. The Greeks say, it was taken up in memorj^ of 
that mock robe which was put upon our Saviour. How 
true this may be 1 shall not enquire, but only observe, 
that it seems prescribed to none but the Bishop, and the 
Priest that consecrates the elements at the sacrament. 
Thus the twenty- fourth canon of our church only orders, 
that the principal minister (when the holy communion is Cope?, 
administered in all cathedral and collegiate churches) use T[^^'^, ^"^ 
a decent Cope, and he. assisted with an EpistUr and Gospeler ^^ j^g ^^^j.^ 
agreeably, according to the advertisements published, Anno 7 
Elizabethae; which adveilisements order, that at all other 
pray en no Copes he used, but Surplices"^^, 

VI. The Priests and Deacons that assist the minister in p/<\'^ 
the distribution of the elements, instead of Copes, are to ^^''^'c^^- 
wearTunicles, wdiichDurand'*^ describes to have been a 

silk sky coloured coat made in the shape of a Cope. 

VII. The Pastoral Staff' (though now grow^n out of use) Of the 
is yet another thing expressly enjoined by the above-cited P^^«<f^r»J 
rubric. It is peculiar indeed to the Bishop alone, but ex- ^^^ " 
pressly ordered to be used by him, as an ensign of his 
office, at all public administrations. It was made in the 
shape of a Shepherd's Crook, and was for many ages, 

even till after the Reformation''^, constantly given to the 
Bishop at his consecration, to denote that he was then 
constituted a Shepherd over the flock of Christ^^ 

These are the ministerial ornaments and habits enjoin- 

38 Dnrand u( supra. 42 See the first ordinal, compiled 

39 See aboCan. 24. A. D. 1549. 

40 Bp. Sparrow's Collection, p. 43 Dnrand, 1. 3. c. 15. fol. 77, 
125. &c. 

41 Rational. 1. 3. c. 10. fol. 73. 



ilO Of the First Rubric. 

Chap. 11. e(-] by Q^^jj, present rubric, in conformity to the first prac- 

~ r~ tice of our church immediately after the Reformation: 

l.Mis, i^c, ^^^^"gh at that time they were so very offensive to Calvin 

offerisireto and Bucher, that the one in his letters to the Protector, 

Calvin and and the Other in his censure of the English Liturgy, which 

uc ler- i^p ^,^^^j. j.^ Archbishop Cranmer, urged very vehemently 

to have them abolished ; not thinking it tolerable to have 

any thing in common with the Papists, but esteeming 

every thing idolatrous that was derived from them. 

And di?- However, they made shift to accomplish the end they 

iMuIe'lt- ^''"^^^^ ^^ '" P^'ocuring a farther reform of our Liturgy : 

< ond book ^^^ '^^ ^^'^^ revie.w that was made of it in the fifth of Ed- 

ofEdwaid ward VL amongst other ceremonies and usages, these 

^^' rubrics w-ere left out, and the following one put in their 

place, viz. 

.^nd here it i? to he noied^ that the minister, at the time of 

the Communion^ and at all other times in his ministration, 

shall use neither j^lb^ Vestment, or Cope ; hit being Archbishop 

or Bishop, he shall have and zvear a Rvchette ; and being a 

Priest or Deacon, he shall have and wear a Surplice only"*"^, 

V>\}t re-(or. But in the next review under Queen Elizabeth, the old 

i^. (f^Fi; rubrics were again brought into authority, and so have 

ai^eth, ''^ continued ever since; being established by the Act of 

Uniformity that passed soon after the Restoration. 

or the VII I. I must observe still farther, that am.ong other or- 

light- upon namcnts of the church then in use, there were imo lights 

t e a (ar, enjoined by the injunctions of King Edward VI. (which 

injunctions were also ratified by the Act of Parliament 

here mentioned) to be set upon the altar, as a significant 

ceremony to represent the light which Christ's Gospel 

brought into the w^orld. And this too was ordered by 

the very same injunction, which prohibited all other lights 

and tapers, that used to be superstitiously set before 

imnges or shrines'*'*, &c. And these lights, used time out 

of mind in the church, are still continued in most, if not all, 

cathedral and collegiate churches and chapels, so often 

as divine service is performed by candle-light ; and ought 

also, by this rubric, to be used in all parish-churches and 

chapels at the same times. 

Church or- \^^ 'p<^ ^[^jjs section we might also refer the Pulpit- 

M'ioiijed, Cloth, Cushions, Coverings for the v^ltar, &:c. and all 

other ornaments used in the church, and prescribed by 

the first book of King Edward VL 

44 Rjibric iicfore the beginning Common Trajer Bock of King Kd- 
ot Morning I'luw-r, in (he teccnd ward VI. 

45 S^parrow^s Collection, p. 2, 3. 



Of the First Rubric. 1 1 1 

Sect. V, 
Sect. V. Of ihe place appointed for the reading of Morn- ~ " 

ing and Evening Prayer. 

The reader may observe, that, in the second section Of (he 
of this chapter, I have only treated of churches in P^^^^ 
general, and the necessity of having appropriate places Moniln- 
for the performance of divine worship, and have not taken and Even^ 
any notice of the particular place in the church, where jne Prayer 
Morning and Evening Prayer is to be used. The appoint- ^^ ?j ^^ 
ment of which was yet the chief design of the first part of ' 
our present rubric: For in the first book of King Edward All divine 
VI. all the rubric relating to this matter was only one at ^^ervice 
the beginning of Morning Prayer, which ordered the at^grgUn 
Priest, being in the Choir, to begin with a loud voice, the the choir. 
Lord''s Prayer, called the Pater-noster, with which the 
Morning and Evening Service then began. So that then 
it was the custom for the minister to perform divine ser- 
vice {i. e. Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as the 
Communion-office) at the upper end of the choir neai^the 
allar ; towards which, whether standing or kneeling, he 
always turned his face in the prayers; though whilst he 
was reading (he Lessons, he turned to the people. 
Against this Bucher, by the direction of Calvin, most Thisprac- 
grieviously declaimed ; urging, that " it was a most anti- ^'^^ ^'^' 
'' christian practice for the priest to say prayers only in against by 
'• the choir, as a place peculiar to the clergy, and not in Bucher. 
" the body of the church among the people, who had as 
" much right to divine worship as the clergy themselves.^' 
He therefore strenuously insisted, " that the reading di- 
" vine service in the chancel was an insufferable abuse, 
" and ought immediately to be amended, if the whole na- 
" tion would not be guilty of high treason against God'^^" 
This terrible outcry (however senseless and trifling) pre- And alter- 
vailed so far, that when the Common Prayer Book was ^"^"""i^j^'j* 
altered in the fifth year of King Edward, this following ^^^^ '^'^^ 
rubric was placed in the room of the old one; viz. The 
Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in such places of 
tile Churchy Chapel, or Chancel, and the Minister shall turn 
him, as the people may best hear. And if there be any con- 
troversy therein, the matter shall be referred to the ordinary, 
and he or his deputy shall appoint the place'^'^. 



46 Vide Bucer. Cens. c. 1. p, 47 Rubric before the beginning: 
457, of morning prayer, in the second 

book cf Kin": Edward. 



112 Of the First Rubric, 

Chap. 11. This alteration caused great contentions, some kneel- 
~, ing one way, some another, though still keeping in the 

caused chaucel : whilst others left the accustomed place, and 
great con- performed all the services in the body of the church a- 
tentions. mongst the people. For the appeasing of this strife and 
diversity, it was thought fit, when the English service was 
Till the again brought into the church, at the accession of Queen 
old custom Elizabeth to the throne, that the rubric should be cor- 
was a^ain pected, and put into the same form in which we now have 
th« reisn ^^ 5 ^^■^* 'l^hat the Moniiiip; and Evening Prayer shall be used 
of Q. Eiiz- in the accustomed place of the Churchy Chapel, or Chancel ; 
abeth. by which for the generality must be nieant the Choir or 
Chancel, which was the accustomed place before the second 
Common Prayer Book of King Edward. For it cannot be 
supposed, that this second book, which lasted only one 
year and a half, could establish a custom. However, a 
dispensing power was left to the ordinary, who might 
determine it otherwise, if he saw just cause. 
The origin- Pursuant to this rubric, the morning and evening ser- 
ai of Read- vice was again, as formerly, read in the chancel or choir. 
"'S-P^j^^ But because in some churches the too great distance of 
the chancel from the body of the church, occasioned 
sometimes by the interposition of a belfr}^, hindered the 
minister from being heard distinctly by the people; there- 
fore the Bishops, at the solicitations of their inferior Cler- 
gy, allowed them in several places to supersede their for- 
mer practice, and to have Desks, or Reading-Pcw.-, in the 
body of the church, where they might, with more ease to 
themselves, and greater convenience to the people, per- 
form the daily morning and evening service. Which 
dispensation, begun at first by some few ordinaries, and 
recommended by them to others, grew by degrees to be 
more general, till at last it came to be an universal prac- 
tice: insomuch that the convocation, in the beginning of 
King James Ts reign, ordered, that in every church there 
should be a convenient seat made for the minister to read 5er- 
vice in^*. And this being almost threescore years before the 
Restoration of K. Charles II. (at which time the last re- 
view of the Common Prayer was made,) it is very pro- 
bable, that when they continued this rubric, ihey intend- 
ed the Desk or Reading-Pew should be understood by 
the accustomed place for reading prayers. x\nd what makes 
this the more likely, is a rubric at the beginning of the 
Communion, which expressly mentions a Reading-Pew, 



48 See Canon 82. 



Of the First JRubric, 1 1 3 

and seems to suppose one in every church. It is true Sect. V. 

indeed, another rubric at the beginning of the Commu- " 

nion-otfice (which orders the tahle^ at the comntunion-lhne^ 
to stand in the body of the Church or Chancel, where Morn- 
ing and Evening Prayer are appointed to be said) seems to 
have an eye to the old practice of reading prayers in 
the choir. But this rubric being the same \hat \vc have 
in King Edward's second Common Prayer Book, may 
perhaps have slipt into the present book through the 
inadvertency of the reviewers, who might not probably 
just then consider, that custom had shifted the place for 
the performance of the daily service into another part 
of the church. Though were it certain that this rubric 
was continued in the last review, to authorize the old 
way of reading the prayers in the choir, in such placeb 
as had still retained that custom ; yet since the ordina- 
ries have a dispensing power, and they have approved 
of the alteration that has been made in the introducing 
of Desks ; it seems as regular now to perform divine 
service in them, as it was formerly to do it in the chan- 
cel or choir. 

§. 2. The occasion of the latter part of this rubric re- chancels 
lating to chancels, was also another of Bucer's cavils; to renmiu 
who, in his censure of our Liturgy, in the same place ^^^'^^^ 
that he complains of the reading prayers in the choir, jjf (,^6^"^ 
inveighs as' vehemently again5^t the separation of the past. 
choir from the body of the church. This too he calls 
'' an antichristian practice, tending only to gain too 
'^ great reverence to the clergy, who would hereby seem 
•' nearer related to God than the laity. That in ancient 
*'• times churches were built in a round form, and not 
'* in a long one like ours, and that the place for the cler- 
"' gy was always in the middle : and that therefore our 
•• divisions of the chancels from the churches, was anoth- 
'• er article of treason against God." This objection 
discovering an equal share of ignorance and ill-nature^ 
seems to have obtained no greater regard than the rail- 
lery deserved. For in the review of the Liturgy of the 
lifth of King Edward, instead of an order to pull down the 
chancels, as undoubtedly this mighty reformer expected, 
a clause was added at the end of the first rubric to pre- 
vent any alteration, expressly enjoining, thatz/ze chancels 
should remain as they had done in times past. There wa3 
afterwards indeed a greater occasion for the continuance 
of this rubric ; when a tumultuous rabble, encouraged 
bv the complaints that they had found had been made 
O 



114 Of the Order 

Chap. III. by this same Bucer, and his directoi Calvin,49 proceed- 
"'■ ed to demolish both chancels and altars, pulling down 
the rails and frames that divided them from the rest of 
the church, and divesting them of all the ornaments that 
but seemed to intimate them to be more than ordinary 
sacred. But this will fall more directly under my con- 
sideration hereafter, when I come to treat of the situation 
of the altar, to which the rubric in the beginning of the 
Communion-office will lead me. 



CHAP. III. 

O/* f/ie ORDER /or Morning and Evening 
Prayer daily throughout the Year, 

The Introduction. 

Whether '"f 

there was -■ HAT the primitive Christians, besides their solemn 
any daily service on Sundays, had public prayers every Morn- 
service m j^^g ^^^ Evenings daily^ has already been hinted upon a 
tire^ ' ^' foi'mer occasion^o: but a learned gentleman is of the opi- 
church. nion, that this must be restrained to times of peace ; and 
that during the time of public persecution they were 
forced to confine their religious meetings to the Lord's 
day ouly". And it is certain that Pliny" and Justin 
Martyr^^, who both describe the manner of the Christian 
worship, do neither of them make mention of any assem- 
bly for public worship on any other day ; so that their 
silence is a negative argument that in their time there was 
no such assembly, unless perhaps some distinction may 
be made between the general assembly of both city and 
country on the Lord's day, and the particular assemblies 

49 Mr. Calvin (who was before plainly strikes at the naoHeration 

thought by sorae to have offered observed in the Englii-h Reforma- 

his aesistance too officiously for tion. — Dr. Nichols's Introduction 

carrying; on the Reformation in to his defence of the Doctrine 

England, and who ^vith relation and Discipline of the church of 

to our church had used some very England. 

ijiird rxpresnonp, not so wt;":! be- 50 C!jap. 2. feet. 1 p. 80, 81. 

toniins: liie mouth of a divine) 51. Mr. Bingham's Antiquities, 

warns Martin Bucer, in a letter he book 13. ch. 9. sect. 1. vol. 5. p. 

sent to him ju&t before his coming 281, &c. 
into England, against beine: <he 52. L. 10 Ep. 97. 

Author or Approver of middle 53 Apol. 1. c. 87- p. 131. and 

Councils : by which a\ ords he c, 89. p. 132. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 115 

of the city Christians (who had better opportunities to Intr«><^uct. 
meet) on other days ; which distinction we often meet "' 
with in the following ages, when Christianity w^as come 
to its maturity and perfection. However, it was not 
long after Justin Martyr's time, before we are sure that 
the church observed the custom of meeting solemnly on 
Wednesdays and Fridays, to celebrate the communion, ' 

and to perform the same service as on the Lord's day 
itself, unless perhaps the sermon was wanting*''. The 
same also might be showed from as early authorities in 
relation to the festivals of their Martyrs and the whole 
fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide*'. Nor need 
we look down many years lower, before we meet with 
express testimony of their meeting every day for the 
public worship of God, For St. Cyprian tells us, that 
in his time it was customary to receive the holy Euchar- 
ist e^er^/ ^ay : a plain demonstration that they had every 
day public assemblies, since we know the Eucharist was 
never consecrated but in such open and public assem- 
blies of the church**. 

§. 2. That these daily devotions consisted of an Even- '^^^^.^.^^^^ 
ing as well as Morning Service, even from St. Cyprian's Mormng 
time, the learned author I just now referred to57 endea- and Evea- 
vours to prove. However, in a century or two after- '•]? ^^^' 
wards, the case is plain ; for the author of the Consti- '*'^^' 
tutions not only speaks of it, but gives us the order of 
both the services**. The Morning Service, as there de- 
scribed, began with the sixty-third, which was therefore 
called the Morning Psalm* Immediately after w^hich • 
followed the prayers for the Catechumens, for those that 
were Possessed, for the Candidates for Baptism, and the 
Penitents, which made the general service on the Lord's 
day, and which were partly performed by the Deacon's 
u^»T(pa,v,](rii, or bidding of prayer, something like our 
present Litany, but only directed to the people, and in- 
structing them for what and for whom they were to of- 
fer their petitions ; and partly by the Bishop's invoca- 
tion over them, pronounced as they bowed down to re- 
ceive his blessing before their dismission. After these 
were dismissed, followed prayers for the peace of the 
whole world, and for all orders of men in the church. 
With which the Communion-service was begun on the 

54. Tertul. de Orat. c. 14- 57 Bincham. ut supra, i, 7. p. 

55. Tertul. deldololat. c. 114. 302. " r » t 
de Ceron. Mil. c. 3. 53. Const. Apost. 1, 8. c. 37. 

56. Cvpr. de Orat. Domin. p. 147. 



116 Of Ihc Order 

Chap. \U. Lord's (lay, and at which none but those who had a 
right to communicate were allowed to be present. After 
this followed another short bidding prayer for Peace 
and Prosperity the ensuing day ; which was immediate- 
ly succeeded b}^ the IJishop's commendatory prayer, or 
morning thanksgiving^^ : which being ended, the Dea- 
* con bid them bow their heads, and receive the Bish» 

op's solemn benediction ; which after they had done, 
he dismissed the congregation with the usual form. De- 
part in peace : the word for dismissing every church as- 
sembly. 

This is the order of the Morning Service, as described 
by the Constitution ; to which the Evening Service, as 
there also set down, is in most things conformable. The 
prayers for the Catechumens, the Possessed, the Candi- 
dates for Baptism, and the Penitents, were all the same ; 
so also were those for the peace of the world, and the 
vvfhjle state of the catholic church. So that all the dif- 
ference between them was this, viz. that thej' used the 
hundred and forty-first psalm at evening instead of the 
sixty-third, which they used in the morning; and in- 
stead of the bidding prajer for Peace and Prosperity, 
and the Bishop's commendatory prayer in the morning 
service, two others were used in the afternoon more pro- 
per to the evening, and which for that reason were call- 
ed the Evening Bidding Prayer, and the Evening 
Thanksgiving. The Bishop's benediction too, at the con-; 
elusion of the whole, was different from that which was 
• used in the forenoon : but excepting in these two or 
three particulars, both services were one and the same ; 
and in the evening, as well as the morning, the congre- 
gation was dismissed with the constant form pronounced 
by the Deacon, Depart in peace. The reader, that is cu- 
rious to see more of these forms, may consult the learn- 
ed Mr, Bingham, who transcribes most of them at large, 
and compares the several parts of them \nth the memo- 
rials and accounts that are left us by other ancient wri- 
ters of the church: in which place he also lakes occa- 
sion to show, that though in the form in the Constitutions 
there is but one psalm appointed either at morning or 
evening; ^^et from ol her rituals it is plain, that it was 
customary in most places to recite several of the psalms 
and to mix lessons along with them, both out of the Old 
Testament and the New, for the edification of the peo- 
ple^^ But this is what 1 have not room to do here ; 

59 E''v;j^'XQirrTla 'O^^om-, Const. ]. 60 See Mr. Bingham's Antiqni- 

^ r.. 38. tips, vol. 5. hook 13.chJip. 11, 12. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1 1 7 

and indeed there is the less occasion, as it will come in Introd. 
my way to speak of these points more largely hereafter, — ^ ' 

as the order of the service I am now entering upon will 
lead me. 

Sect. I. Of the Sentences. 

Prayer requires so much attentlort and serenity ofwhyplac 
mind, that it can never be well performed v/ithout some f^ ^* \'^® 
precedmg preparation: for which reason, when the ^^i-^^e ser 
Jews enter into their synagogues to pray, they remain vice. 
silent for some time, and meditate before whom they 
stand®^ : and the Christian Priest, in the primitive ages, 
prepared the people's h^earts to pray hy a devout pre- 
face^^ The first book of King Edward indeed begins 
with the Lord's prayer : but when they came to review 
it afterwards, and to make alterations, they thought that 
too abrupt a beginning, and therefore prefixed these 
Sentences, with the following Exhortation, Confession, 
and Absolution, as a proper introduction, to bring the 
souls of the congregation to a spiritual frame, and to 
prepare them for the great duty they are just entering 
lipon.* The Sentences are gathered out of Scripture, 
that so we may not dare to disobey them ; since they 
come from the mouth of that God whom we address our- 
selves to in our prayers, and who may justly reject our 
petitions if we hearken not to his word. 

§. 2. As to the choice of them, the reverend compilers of The choice 
our Liturgy have selected such as are the most plain and of ^^i^"^- 
the most likely to bring all sorts of sinners to repentance. 
There are variety of dispositions, and the same man is not 

61 Biixtorf. Svnag:. Judaic, cap. 62 Cjpr. de Oral. Dom. p. 152. 
10. p. 194. Basi'l. 1661. 

* For the same reason the devout and pious custom ought ever fo 
be observed by Christians, of addressing themselves to God in private 
prayer before the service begins. The peti^ons in such prayer should 
be— for acceptance of our services, and ability to perform them pro- 
perly — for seriousness, attention and devotion — that we may promote 
trie glory of God, and the edification of our fellow men. — Let such 
person adapt this prayer to his own circumstances and necessities. It 
he needs assistance herein, he will find a form of prayers to be used 
both at o«ir entering- and and at leaving the Church, annexed to most 
of the tracts for the Catechistical Instruction of youJh. The prayer in 
the Office of Institution, which the instituted Minister offera for himself, 
may with suitable omissions and alterations, be used by every wor- 
shipper. The prayers offered for the Instituted Minister may also be 
used in like manner every Sunday, if there be time before the service 
begins. Am. Editor. 



118 Of the Order 

Ohap. III. always in the same temper. For which reason they have 

. collected several, and left it to the discretion of him that 

ministereth, to use such one or more of them every day, 
as he shall judge agreeable to his own, or his people's cir- 
cumstances. 



Sect. II. Of the Exhortation* 

ofUie^Ex" The design of the Exhortation is to apply and set 
hortations. home the preceding sentences, and to direct us how 
to perform the following Confession. It collects the ne- 
cessity of it from the word of God; and when it hath 
convinced us of that, itinstructeth us in the right manner, 
and then invites us to that necessary duty, for which it 
hath so well prepared us. And for our greater encour- 
ragement,the Minister (who is God's ambassador) offers 
to accompany us to the throne of grace, knowing his Mas- 
ter will be glad to see him with so many penitents in his 
retinue. And he promises that he will put words in our 
mouths, and speak with us and for us ; only we must ex- 
press the humility of our minds by the lowliness of our 
bodies, and declare our assent to every sentence by re- 
peating it reverently a//cr/u'm.* 



Sect. III. Of the Confession, 

i he €on- A HE holy Scriptures assure us, that sin unrepented of 
f*^«sion, hinders the success of our prayers*^ and therefore such 
whyplaced gs would pray effectually have always begun with con- 
dnnin^of fession®* ; to the end that, their guilt bein^ removed by 
the pray penetential acknowledgments, there might no bar be 
-r^- left to God's grace and mercy. For which reason the 



63 Isa. i. 15. John ix. 31. 64 Ezra ix. 5, 6. Dan. ix. 4, 5. 

* The Common prayer having been originally intended mt only for 
the publick service of the church, but also as a guide in family worship, 
v\rhen it is so used, tlie Exhortation may be turned into a prayer pre- 
paratory to the confession, and thus abridged : 

Almighty Ged^ and Heavenly Falhtr^ who in sundry places of thy 
most holy loord^ hast commanded us to acknowledge and confess our 
manifold sin9 and wickedness unto theCt give us grace, at this time, to 
confess them with an humble^ lowly, penitent^ and obedient hearty to 
the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by thy infinite 
goodness and mercy. And this we beg through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
Amen, Shepherd. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1 1 9 

church hath placed this Confession at the beginning of the Secf^L 
service, for the whole congregation to repeat after the mi- 
nister, that so we may first be witnesses of each other's 
Confession, before we unite in the following service. 
And this, as we learn from St. Basil, is consonant to the 
practice of the primitive Christians ; " who (he tells us) in 
'' all churches, immediately upon their entering into the 
" house of prayer, made confession of their sins to God, 
" with much sorrow, concern, and tears, every man pro- 
" nouncing his own Confession with his own mouth"". 

§. 2. As to the form itself, it is blamed by our sectaries An objec 
for being too general: and yet it is so particular as to con- **^ej,ed" 
tain all that can be expressed. It begins with an acknow 
ledgment of our original corruption in the wicked devices 
and desires of our hearts^ and then descends to actual guilt, 
which it divides into sins of omission and commission, un- 
der which two heads of all sins whatever must neceis- 
arily be reduced. So that every single person, who 
makes this general confession with his lips, may at the 
same time mentally unfold the plague of his own heart, 
his particular sins, whatever they be, as effectually to 
God, who searches the heart, as if he enumerated them 
in the most ample form. And indeed had this form been 
more particular or express, it would not so well have an- 
swered the end for which it was designed : for a common 
Confession ought to be so contrived, that every person 
present may truly- speak it as his own case ; whereas a 
Confession drawn up according to the mind of the ob- 
jectors, would be but little less than an inquisition, forc- 
ing those that join in it to accuse and condemn them« 
selves of those sins daily, which perhaps they never 
committed in their lives. 

Sect. IV. Of the Absolution. 

The congregation being now humbled by the preced- ^^rblT 
ing Confession, may justly be supposed to stand in used here. 
need of consolation. And therefore since God has com- 
mitted to his ambassadors the ministry of reconciliation^^, 
they can never more seasonably exercise it than now. 
For this reason the Priest immediately rises from his 
knees, and standing up^ as with authority, declares and 
pronounces for their comfort and support, that God, zvho 

65 Basil, ad Clerum Neocaesaii- 66 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. 

cus-Ep, 63. torn. ii. p. 813. D. 



.120 Of the Order 

Chap. III. desires nol the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn 

'" from his wickedness and live, pardoneth and ahsolveth all 

them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gos- 
pel. 
0[ what §• 2. Now whether this be only a declaration of the con- 
benefit or dition or terms, whereupon God is willing to pardon sin- 
eifect ners 5 or whether it be an ac/zm/ cont^e^ance of pardon^ at 

the very instant of pronouncing it, to all that come 
within the terms proposed, is a question that is often the 
subject of dispute. With ihe utmost deference therefore 
to the judgment of those who are of a different opinion, I 
beg leave to declare for the last of these senses : not that 
I ascribe a.ny judicial power or authority to the Priest to 
determine the case ofsiprivaie man, so as to apply God's 
pardon or forgiveness directly to the conscience of any 
particular or definite sinner ; (my notion as to this will be 
seen hereafter^''^) nor do 1 suppose that the Priest when 
he pronounces this form, can apply the benefit of it to 
whom he pleases ; or that he so much as knows upon 
whom, or upon how many, it shall take effect : but all 
that I contend for is only this, viz. that since the Priest 
has the ministry of reconciliation^^ committed to him by 
God, and hath both power and commandment (as it is ex- 
pressed in this form) to declare and pronounce to his people, 
being penitent, the absolution and remission of their sins; 
therefore when he does, by virtue of this power and com- 
mandment, declare and pronounce such Absolution and 
Remission regularly in the congregation ; those in the 
congregation that truly repent and unfeignedly believe in 
Godhholy Gospel, (though the Priest does not know who 
or how many they are that do so,) have yet their pai'don 
conveyed and sealed to them at that very instant through 
his ministration ; it being the ordinary method of God 
with his church, to communicate his blessings through 
the ministry of the Priest. 

I am sensible that this is carrying the point higher than 
many that have delivered their judgments before me. 
Even the learned translator of St. Cyprian's works, who 
contends that this is an authoritative form, yet explains 
himself to mean nothmgmore by authorifativejihsin that it 
" is an act of office warranted by God, and pursuant to the 
" commission which the Priest hath received for publish- 

67 See chap. 2. concerning (lie must beg the reader to turn at the 

Order for the Visitation of the Sick, same time to what I have suid in 

Sect. 5. for the consistancy of n>v llic preface, 

notions in both these places ; i 6b' 2 Cor. v. IS. 19. 



for Morning and Evening Prayzr, 121 

*' ing authoritatively the terms of pardon at large and in -c^t. IV. 
" general, and then for pronouncing by the same autho- " 

" rity, that when those terms are fulfilled, the pardon is 
" granted^^/' But this explanation seems only to make 
it an authoritative declaration^ and not to suppose (as, with 
submission to this gentleman, 1 take both tlu- rubric and 
form to implj) that it is an effective for lx\^ convey ing as well 
as declaring a pardon to those that are duly qualified to 
receive it. My reasons for this I shall have another oc- 
casion to give immediately : for though what this learn- 
ed gentleman asserts does not come up to my notion of 
the form ; yet it is a great deal more than another learn- 
ed author is willing to allow ; who does not seem to think 
the form to be authoritative in any sense at all, or that 
there is any need of a commission to pronounce it. For 
** it may be asked (saith the Reverend Dr. Bennet upon 
** this place) whether a mere Deacon may pronounce this 
" form of Absolution: and to this (saith he) I answer, 
" that in my judgment he may. The reason that he gives 
'' for it is, that he cannot but think it manifest, that this 
*• form of Absolution is only declaratory : that it is only 
" saying, That all penitent sinners are pardoned by God 
" upon their repentance : and consequently that a mere 
" Deacon has as much authority'- to speak every part of 
•' this form, as he has to say. When the wicked man iurneih 
'* away fro7n his wickedness, <^c. which is the first of the 
" sentences appointed to be read before Morning Prayer: 
" nay3 that a mere Deacon has as much authority to pro- 
" nounce this form, as he has to preach a sermon about 
'• repentance. And that therefore it seems to be a vul- 
•• gar mistake, which makes the Deacons deviate from 
" their rule, and omit either the whole, or else a part of 
*' this form, or perhaps exchange it for a collect taken 
•' out of some other part of the Liturgy^*^." 

But now, with submission to the learned doctor, I beg Designed 
leave to observe, that this form is expressly called by the ^y ^'^^^ 
rubric. The Absolution or Remission of Sins. It is not ^^"'^^^j.^^' 
called a Declaration of Absolution, as one would think thaudecla- 
it should have been, if it had beeen designed for no rative. 
more ; but it is positively and emphatically called 
THE Absolulion,io denote that it is really an Absolution 

69 See Dr. Marshal's Preface to 70 Dr. Bennet on the Common 

his translation of St. Cyprian, Prayer, p. 27. 

P 



122 Of llie Order 

Chap. III. of sins to those that are entitled to it by repentance and 

faith.* 

Again, the term used to express the Priest's delivering 
or declaring it, is a very solemn one : it is to be pro- 
nounced (saith the rubric) hy the priest alone, A word 
which signifies much more than merely to make known, 
or declare a thing : fortheLatin|?ron'»i7iao, from whence 
it is taken, signifies properly to pronounce or give sen- 
tence : and therefore the word j?ronoimcc<^, here used, 
must signify that this is a sentence of Absolution or Re- 
mission of sins, to be authoritatively uttered by one who 
has received commission from God. 

But farther, if the repeating this Absolution be no 
more than saying, That all penitent sinners are pardoned 
by God upon their repentance^ as the learned doctor af- 
firms ; 1 cannot conceive to what end it should be plac- 
ed just o/Zer the Confession : for as much as this, the 
doctor himself tells us, is said before it, viz, in the first 
of the sentences appointed to be read before Morning 
or Evening Prayer, When the wicked man turneth away 
from his wickednesd^ <^c, and there I think indeed more 
properly: for such a declaration maybe a great en- 
couragement to draw men to confession and repentance ; 
but after they have confessed and repented, the use of 
it, I think, is not so great. It is indeed a comfort to us 
to know that God will pardon us upon our repentance : 
but then it must be supposed that the hope of this par- 
don is one chief ground of our repentance : and there- 
fore it cannot be imagined that the church should tell 
us that after the Confession, wdiich it is necessary we 
should know before it, as being the principal motive we 
have to confess. 

All that I know can be said against this (though the 
doctor indeed does not urge so much) is, that " after 
" the minister has declared the Absolution and Remis- 
" sion of the people's sins, he goes on to exhort them to 
^^ pray and beseech God to grant them true repentance, ^c, 
" which repentance is necessary, it may be said, before* 
'' hand^ in order to their pardon ; because God pardon- 
" eth and absolveth none but those who truly repent. 
*' And therefore since the minister here exhorts the 
"people to pray for repentance, after he ha^^ pronounc- 
'' cd the Absolution and Remissioii of their sins ; it may 

• r- 
♦This argument is inapplicable to the American Liturgy, where this 

form is called the declaration of Absolution. Am* Ed» 



for Morning and Evening Prayer* 1 23 



" be thought that the Absolution does not convey a par- s^«*- i^' 
" don but only promise them one upon their repentance." 
But in answer to this, we may grant in the first place, 
that one part of repentance, viz. the acknowledging and 
confessing of our sins^ must be performed before we are 
pardoned; since, unless we acknowledo:e that we have 
transgressed God's laws, we do not own that we stand 
in need of his pardon. And for this reason the church 
orders the people to make their confession, before she di- 
rects the Priest to pronounce the Absolution. But then 
there are two other parts of repentance, which are as 
necessary after our sins are forgiven us, as they are be- 
fore ; and they are Contrition and Amendment of Life: 
for first, Contrition (by which I mean the lamenting or 
looking back with sorrow upon our sins) is certainly 
necessary even after they are forgiven us : since to be 
pleased with the remembrance of them, would be (as 
far as it lies in our power) to act those sins over again, 
and consequently, though God himself should at any 
time have declared them pardoned wnth his own mouth, 
yet such repetition of them would render even that Ab- 
solution ineffectual. And, secondly, as to endeavours 
after Amendment of Life ^ if there be any diflference, they 
are certainly more necessary after our former sins are 
forgiven than before-^ because God's mercy in pardoning 
us is n new obligation upon us to live well, and is what 
■will enhance our guilt, if we offend afterwards. And there- 
fore our being pardoned, ought to make us pray the 
more vehemently for repentance, and God's holy Spirit ; 
lest, if we should return to our sins again, a worse 
thing should happen unto us. From all which it appears, 
that though repentance be a necessry disposition to par- 
don, so as that neither God will, nor man can, absolve 
those that are impenitent ; yet in some parts of it, it is a 
necessary consequent of pardon, insomuch as that he 
who is pardoned ought still to repent, as well as he who 
seeks a pardon : and if so, then the praying for repen- 
tance after the minister has declared a pardon, is no ar- 
gument, that such declaration does not convey a pardon. 
But, secondly, the design of the church in this place 
is, not only to exhort the congregation to repentance, 
by declaring to them that God will forgive and pardon 
their sins when they shall repent, but also to convey an 
instant pardon from God, by the mouth of the Priest, to 
as many as do, at that time, truly repent^ and unfeigntdly 



124 Of Ihc Order 

Chap. III. heJieve his holy Gospel ; seems evident from the former 
^~ part of the Absolution, where the Priest reads his com- 
piission before he executes his authority. For this part 
would be wholly needless, if no more was intended by 
the Absolution than what Dr. Bennet tells us, viz, " a 
'^ bare declaration, that all penitent sinners are pardoned 
hy God upon their repentance :" for since, as he himself 
confesses, there is no more contained in such a declara- 
tion thnn what is implied in the first of the sentences be- 
fore Morning Prayer; it will be very difficult to account 
why the church should usher it in with so solemn a pro- 
claiiiation of what Power and Commandment God has 
given to his ministers. But since the church has direct- 
ed ihe Priest to make known to the people, that God 
has f^iven power and commandment to his ministers to declare 
and pronounce to his people, being penitentJhe Absolution and 
Remission oj their sins ; il is very reasonable to suppose 
that, when in the next words the Priest declares that God 
pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent^ and 
unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel, he does, in the intent 
of the church, exercise that power, and obey that com- 
mandment, which God has given him. 

But, lastly, the Persons to whom this Absolution must 
he pronounced, is another convincing proof that it is 
more than merely declarative. For if it implied no more 
than that all sinners are pardoned by God upon their 
repentance ; it might as well be pronounced to such as 
continue in their sins, as to thpse that have repented of 
them : nay, it would be more proper and advantageous 
to bo pronounced to the former than to the latter : be- 
cause, as I have observed, such a declaration might be 
a great inducement to forward their conversion. But 
yet we see that this form is not to b^ pronounced to 
such as tjie church desiies should repent, but to those 
who have repented. The Absolution and Remission of 
sins, which the I'riest here declares and pronounces from 
God, is declared and pronounced to his people being 
penitent, i. e. to those who are penitent at the very time 
of pronouncing the Absolution. For as to those who 
are impeniienty the Priest is not here said to have any 
power or commandment relating to them ; they are quite 
left out, as persons not fit or proper to have this commis- 
sion executed in their behalf. From all which it is 
plain, that this Absolution is more than declarative, that 
it is truly effective ; insuring and conveying to the pro- 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 125 

per subjects thereof the very Absolution or Remission Sect. l\. 
Itself. It is as much a bringing of God's pardon to the 
penitent member of Christ's church, and as effectual to 
his present benefit, as an authorized messenger bringing 
a pardon from his sovereign to a condemned penitent 
crimmal, is effectual to his present pardon and release 
from 'he before appointed punishment. 

It is indeed drawn up in a declarative form : and, con- 
sidering it is to be pronounced to a mixed congregation, 
jt could not well have been drawn up in any other. For 
tht minister, not knowing who are sincere, and w^ho are 
feigned penitents, is not allowed to prostitute so sacred 
an ordinance amongst the good and bad promiscuously ; 
but is directed to assure those only of a pardon who 
truly repent^ and unfeignedly believe God^s holy Gospel. 
But then to these, as may be gathrred from what has 
been said, I take it to be as full and effective an Abso- 
lution as any that can be given. 

§. 3 And if so, then the question the learned doctor Not to be 
here introduces, must receive a different answer from ^^*^"^^""^' 
what he has given it. For Deacons were never commis- Deacon, 
sioned by the church to give Absolution in any of its 
forms: and therefore when a Deacon omits the whole, 
or part of this form, he does not deviate from his rule, as 
the doctor asserts, but prudently declines to use an au- 
thority which he never received ; and which he is ex- 
pressly forbid to use in this place hj the rubric prefix- 
ed, which orders the Absolution to be pronounced by ilie 
Priest alone, I am very readily inclined to acknowledge 
with the doctor, that the word alone was designed to 
serve as a directory to the people, not to repeat the 
words after the minister, as they had been directed to do 
in the preceding Confession ; but silently to attend till 
the Priest has pronounced it, and then, by a hearty and 
fervent Amen, to testify their faith in the benefits con- 
veyed by it. But then as to what the doctor goes to as- 
sert, that " the word Priest does in this place signify, 
^' not one that is in Priest's orders, as we generally 
"■ speak, but any minister that officiates, whether Priest 
" or Deacon ;"" I think 1 have very good reason to dis- 
sent from him. For the signification of a word is cer- 
tainly to be best learnt from the persons that impose it. 
Now though it be true that in King Edward's second 
Common Prayer Book, (which was the first that had 
:he Absolution in it,) and in all the other books till the 
Restoration of King Charles, the word in ihr^ rubric was 



126 . Of the Order 

Chap. III. Minister and iiot Priest f' yet in the review that followed 

- immediately after the Restoration, Priest was inserted 

in the room o( Minister^ and that with a full and direct 

design to exclude Ihacons from being meant by it. For 

at the Savoy conference, the Presbyterian Divines (that 

were ay)pointed by the King to treat with the Bishops 

about the alterations that were to be made in theCommon 

Prayer) had desired that, as the word Minister was used 

in the Absolution, and in divers other places; it might 

also be used throughout the whole book, instead of the 

word Priesl''K But to this the Bishops'answer was ve- 

The words ry peremptor}^ and full, viz. // is not reasonable that the 

Fritst a- zvord Minister should be only used in the Liturgy : for since 

ur?der*^food ^^^'^^ P^'^^^ of the Liturgy may be performed by a Deacon^ 

exclusive Others by none under the order of a Priest^\\z, Absolution^ 

of Deacons. Consecration ; it is fit that some such word as Priest should 

be used for those ofices^ and not Minister, which signifies at 

lurge every one that ministers in the holy office, of what 

order soever he be'^. And agreeable to this answer, 

72 See the fixccptions a^iinst London, printed in the year 1661. 

the LJook of Common Prayer, } 11. and in Mr. Baxter's Narrative, 

p. 6. in a quarto treatise, iutttled, p. 318. 

an account of all the Proceedings 73 See the Papers that passed 

of the Commis.'ioners of botJi between the Commissioners ap- 

Pcrsuasions, appointed by his sa- pointed by his Majesty for the aU 

cred Mpjesty according to Letters teration of the Common Prayer 

Patent*, for the Review of the (annexed to the aforesaid ac- 

Book of Common Prajer, kc. count) p. 57, 58, 

* Shepherd denies that the word in the rubric was minister and not 
priest till the restoration of Charles the Second, and says of Wheatly, 
that ^' when he does not copy from preceding" English writers we cannot 
with safety depend upon his authority." But he appears to have bad 
a strong prejudice against Wheatly, and while he ca'-J? in questim his 
authority, gives no satisfactory evidence to establif-h his own. "Our 
Church," says Nichols, ^' in the last review of the Liturgy, has chosen 
lo \\\\i ill the v! 0x6 priest inst. ad of minister (which was in K. Edward 
VI. Second Book, and in Q. Elizabeth's) to the end that no one might 
pretend to piononiice this, b\it one in Priest's orders ; being sensible 
that some bold innovations had been made herein, by reason of some 
jiersons misunderstuiidintc, or misajjplyinsr the word Minister. But 
fite first compilers of the Ccmtuon Prayer understor.d the same by 
.Minister, as we do by Priest ; that being the general acceptation of 
tlie word at that tirue. And we must note, that the compilers of the 
second book of Ed. V'l. (in which the confession and absolution were 
fjrt inserted) put into the rubric, to be said by the Minister (or Priest) 
(tlone, to avoid tiie imputation which Papists had charged some of the 
Reformed with, for permitting Absolution lo be pronounced by per- 
sons out of this Older. 

'• The word Minister in the Common Prayer Book Rubrics, always 
signifies a Priest ministring or oniciatiug.*' Nichols on the Common. 
IVayer. Note to Absolution iu the Morning service. Am. Ed. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1 27 

when they came to make the necessary alterations in the Sect. V. 

Liturgy, they not only refused to change Priest for JV/m- 

ister but also threw out the word Minister and put Priest 
in the room of it, even in this rubric before the Absolu- 
tion. So that it is undeniably plain, that by this rubric 
Deacons are expressly forbid to pronounce this form ; 
since the word Priest in this place (if interpreted accor- 
ding to the intent of those that inserted it) is expressly 
limited to one in PriesCs orders, and does not compre- 
hend any Minister that officiates^ whether Priest or Beacon., 
as Dr. Bennet asserts. I therefore could wish that the 
doctor would take some decent opportunity to withdraw 
that countenance, which I know some Deacons are apt 
to take from his opinion, which has much contributed 
to the spreading of a practice which was seldom or nev- 
er known before. The doctor indeed, in the conclusion 
of the whole, declares that " he is far from desiring a- 
" ny person to be determined by him : and intreats the 
*' Deacons to consult their Ordinaries, and to follow 
"their directions, which in such disputable matters (as 
"■these) are the best rule of conscience." But as to this 
it should be considered, that the rubric being establish- 
ed by Act of Parliament, the Ordinaries themselves 
(whom the doctor advises the Deacons to consult about 
it) have no power to authorize them to use this form, a- 
ny otherwise than by giving them Priest's orders : since 
their authorityreaches no farther than to doubtful cases^'*, 
and this, I think, appears now to be a clear one. 

§. 4. The Priest is required to pronounce the Absolu- The Pmst 
tion standings because it is an act of his authority in de- ^^^ ^i^^ * 
daring the will of God, whose ambassador he is. But people to 
the people are to continue kneeling^ in token of that hu- kneeJ. 
mility and reverence, with which they ought to receive 
the joyful news of a pardon from God. 

Sect. V. Of the Rubric after the Absolution. 

Immediately after the Absolution in the morning 
service, follows this general rubric : 

IT The people shall answer here, and at the end of all 
other prayers, Amen, 

The word here enjoined to be used is originally He- Amen, 
brew, and signifies the same in English as So be it. But ^''^[^gg^ 

y4 See the Preface conoernfng (he Service of the Church, 



128 



Oflhc Order 



Chap. Ill 



How re- 
garded by 
the primi- 
tive Chris- 
tiaos. 



Why print- 
ed some- 
times in 
.■Rom an 
and some- 
iimes in 
Ualic. 



the word itself has been retained in all languages, to exj 
press the assent of the person that pronounces it, to that 
to which he returns it as an answer. As it is used in the 
Common Prayer Book, it bears different significations, ac- 
cording to the different forms to which it is annexed. At 
the end of Prayers and Collects, ii is addressed to God, 
and signifies, " So be it, O Lord, as in our prayers we 
" have expressed/' But at the end of Exhortations, Ab- 
solutions, and Creeds, it is addressed to the Priest, and 
then the meaning of it is either, " So be it, this is our 
*' sense and meaning ;" or, " So be it, we entirely assent 
*' to and approve of what has been said." 

§. 2. When this assent was given by the primitive 
Christians at their public offices, they pronounced it so 
heartily that St. Jerom compares it to thunder : " They 
^^ echo out the Amen (saith he) like a thunder-clap^^' :" 
and Clemens Aiexandrinus tells us, that " at the last ac- 
" clamatk)ns of their prayers, they raised themselves up- 
" on their tip-toes (for on Sundays and on all days be- 
" tween Easter and Whitsuntide they pray standing) as if 
"they desired that that word should carry up their bod- 
*' ies as well as their souls to heaven^^" 

§. 3. In our present Common Prayer Book it is obsev- 
able, that the Amen is sometimes printed in one charac- 
ter, and sometimes in another.* The reason of which I 
take to be this : at the end of all the Collects and Prayers, 
which the Priest is to repeat or say alone^ it is printed 
in Italic, a different character from the prayers them- 
selves, to denote, I suppose, that the minister is to stop at 
tiie end of the prayer, and to leave the Amen for the peo- 
ple to respond : but at the end of the Lord's Prayer, 
Confessions, Creeds, &c. and wheresoever the people are 
to join aloud with the minister, as if taught and instruct- 
ed by him v/hat to say, there it is printed in Roman, i. e. 
in the same character with the Confessions and Creeds 
themselves, as a hint to the minister that he is still to go 
on, and by pronouncing the Amen himself, to direct the 



75. Hicron. in 2 Frooem. Com. in Galat. 



76 Stromat. 1. 7. 



♦This di$tincti6n has not been retained in the American Liturgy, 
and therefore it is not necessary to enumerate the suppositions by 
which the English Liturgical writers endeavour to account for it. 
The Minii.ter, says Shepherd, may either mentally or vocally utter 
Amen., or leave it ('ntir(-ly to the people, as he may be disposed. The 
Italic character being invariably used in the American Liturgy, the 
alteration set ms to imply that the Amen should in all cases be consid- 
ered as H response. .\yi. Ed. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 129 

people to do the same, and so to set their seal at last to Sect. Vi: 
what they had been before pronouncing. ~ 

§, 4. By the people's being directed by this ruoric to ^^ ^^^^' 
ansioer Amen at the end of the prayers, they might easily pfiptat the 
perceive that they are expected to be silent in the prayers prcivers 
themselves, and only to go along with the minister in aloud. 
their minds. For the minister is the appointed inter- 
cessor for the people, and consequently it is his office to 
offer up tPieir prayers and praises in their behalf: inso- 
much that the people have nothing more to do than to at- 
tend to what he says, and to declare their assent by an 
Amen at last, without disturbing those that are near them 
by muttering over the Collects in a confused manner, as is 
practised by too many in most congregations, contrary 
to common sense, as well as decency and good manners. 

Sect. VI. Of the Lord^s Prayer, 

W HAT hath hitherto been done is, for the most part, Lord's 
rather a preparation to prayer, than prayer itself: but prayer,. 
now wc begin wiih the Lord's prayer, with which the of- '^o^MJl^'^' 
fice itself began in'the first book of King Edward VL beginning. 
But our Reformers at the review of it (as has already 
beeen observed) thought it proper to add what now pre- 
cedes it, as judging it perhaps not so decent to call God 
Our Father, before we reprntof our disobedience against 
him. The necessity of using it 1 have already proved^^; 
and shall not only observe, that its being drawn up by 
our glorious Advocate, who knew both his Father's suffic- 
iency and our wants, may assure us, that it contains every 
thing fit for us to ask, or his F'ather to grant. For which 
cause it is, and ou^htto be, added to all our forms and 
offices to make up their defects, and to recommend them 
to our heavenly Father; who, if he cannot deny us 
when wc ask in his Son's 7iame^ can much less do so 
when we speak in his words also''^ 

§. 2. The Doxology was appointed by the last review '^}^^ ^^'^ 
to be used in this place, partly, I suppose, because many ^^^etimes 
copies of St. Matthew have it. and the Greek fathers ex used, and 
pound it; and partly, because the office here is a matter sometimes 
of praise, it being used immediately after the Absolution. °"^^^** ' 
But since St. Luke leaves it out, and some copies of St, 
Matthew, and most of the Latin fathers ; therefore we 
also omit it in some places, where the offices are not di- 
rect acts of thanksgiving. 

77 Introduction, p. 3, 4, &o. 78 €vnrian. de Oral. p. 139. 140. 

Q 



130 Of tilt Order 

Chap. III. ^, 3, Here, snd wherever else this prayer is used, the 

' ' whole congregation is to join with the minister in an 

^e^to^re' ^^^ible voice ; partly that people ignorantly educated may 

peat the the sooner learn it ; and partly to signify how boldly we 

Lord's may approach the Father, when we address bim with 

^w" ^^^ Son's words. Though till the last review there was 

with the ^o such direction ; it having been the custom till then, 

minister, for the minister to say the Lord's prayer alone, in most 

of the offices, and for the people only to ansv^r at the 

end of it, by way of response. Deliver us from evil. And 

the better to prepare and give them notice of what they 

were to do, the minister was used to elevate and raise 

his voice, when he came to the petition, / eadus not into 

temptation^ jusi as it is done still in the Roman Church, 

where the priest always pronounces the conclusion of 

every prayer with a voice louder than ordinary, that 

the people may know when to join their Amen. 

Sect. VII. Of the Responses, 

The design It was a very ancient practice of the Jews to recite 
of the their public hymns and prayers by course ; and many 
Responses, of the fathers assure us, that the primitive Christians imi- 
tated them therein : so that there is no old Liturgy 
wherein there are not such short and devout sentences 
as these, which, from the people's answering the priests, 
are called Responses. The design of them is, by a grate- 
ful variety, to quicken the people's devotions, and en- 
gage their attention : for since they have their share of 
duty, they must expect till their turn come, and prepare 
for the next response: whereas, when the minister does 
all, the people naturally grow sleepy and heedless, as 
if they were wholly unconcerned. 

§. 2. The responses here enjoined consist of prayers 
open thou' ^ praises : the first, Lord^ open thou our lips^ and our 
fcc. ' mouth shall shew forth thy praise, are very frequent in an- 
R.Andour cient Liturgies, particularly in those of St. James and St. 
"hai!*& Chrysostom, and are fitly placed here with respect to 
'' * those sins we lately confessed: for they are part of Da- 
vid's penetential psalni^^, who looked on his guilt so long, 
till the grief, shame, and fear, which followed thereupon, 
had almost sealed up his lips and made him speechless ; 
so that he could not praise God as he desired, unless it 
pleased him, by speaking peace to his soul, to remove 
those terrors, and then his lips would be opened, and his 

79 Pcalm li. 15. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. 1 3 1 

mouth ready to praise God. And if we were as sensible ^^f^i' VI. 

of our guilt as we ought to be, it will be needful for us to 

beg such evidences of our pardon, as may free us from 
the terrors which seal up our lips, and then we shall be 
fit to praise God heartily in the following psalms. 

§. 3. The words that follow, viz. O God, make speed ^';?f ^'^^ 
to save us ; O Lord, make haste to help us, are of ancient Ipeed, &c. 
use in the Western Church. When with David we look R.OLordj 
back to the innumerable evils which have taken hold of ^ake 
us, we cry to God to save us speedily from them by his ^"^"^^^ ^^' 
mercy ; and when we look forward to the duties we are 
about to do, we pray as earnestly, in the words of the 
same Psalmist^®, that he will make haste to help us, by 
his grace ; without which we can do no acceptable ser- 
vice. 

§. 4. And now having good confidence that our par- V.Glorybe 
don is granted ; like David^S we turn our petitions into {he!\c!" 
praises : standing up to denote the elevation of our hearts, r. as it' 
and giving Glory to the whole Trinity, Father, Son, and was in the 
Holy Ghost, for the hopes we entertain. beginping, 

In the primitive times almost every father had his own 
Doxologies, which they expressed as they had occasion 
in their own phrases and terms ; ascribing Glory and 
Honour, (^c. sometimes to the Father only, and sometimes 
only to the Son ; sometimes to the Father through the Son, 
and sometimes to the Father with the Son ; sometimes to 
the Spirit jOintly with both, and sometimes through or in 
the Spirit to either ; sometimes through the ^on to the 
Father with the Holy Ghost, and sometimes to the Father 
and Holy Ghost with the Son* For they all knew that 
there were three distinct, but undivided. Persons, in one 
eternal and infinite Essence ; and therefore whilst they 
rendered Glory from this principle of Faith, whatever 
the form of Doxology was, the meaning and design of it 
was always the same. But when the Arians began to 
wrest some of these general expressions in countenance 
and vindication of their impious opinions, and to fix 
chiefly upon that form, w^hich was the most capable of 
being abused to an heretical sense, viz. Glory to th& 
Father, by the Son,in the Holy Ghost ; thi.-and other forms 
grew generally into disuse ; and that which ascribes Glo« 
ry to the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father and the Son, 
from that time became the standing form of the church. 
So that the Doxology we meet with in the ancient Litur- 

80 Psalm Ux. 1. 81 Psalm \i. 9. cxxx, 7. 



132 Of Ike Order 

Chap. III. gies is generally thus : Glory be io the Father, and to the 
'" Son^ and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, world without 
end: and so it continues still in the olfices of the Greek 
Church: l)ut the Western Church soon afterwards add- 
ed the words, As it was in the beginnings not only to op- 
pose the poison of the Arians, who said, there was a be- 
ginning of time before Christ had any beginning, l/Ut also 
to declare that this was a prin^itive form, and the old or- 
tliodox way of praising God^^. 
V. Praise §• •^' Having now concluded our penetential office, we 
ye the begin the office of praises ; as an introduction to which 
J^o'"'^- the priest exhorts us to Praise the Lord: the people, to 

Lorrrs ^'^how their readiness to join with him, immediately reply, 
riatae be let the Lord's name he praised ; though this answer of the 
praised. people was first added to the Scotch Liturgy, and then 

to our own, at the last review. 
Ofthellal- The first of these versicles, viz. PraK9e?/c //le Lord, is 
lelujah. no Other than the Enghsh of Halle Ivjah; a word so sacred, 
that St. John retains it^^, and St Austin saith the church 
scrupled to translate it^' ; a word appointed to be used in 
all the Liturgies I ever met with; in some of them upon 
all days of the year, except those of fasting and humilia- 
tion ; but in others only upon Sundays and the fifty days 
between Easter and Whitsuntide, in token of the joy wc 
express for Christ's resurection^^. In our ov/n churcfi, 
notwithstanding we repeat the sense of it every day in 
English; yet the word itself was retained in the first 
book of King Edward VI. v/here it was appointed lo be 
used immediately alter the vcrsicles here mentioned, 
from Easter to Trinity Sunday, How it came to be left 
out afterv/ards I cannot tell ; except it was because those 
who had the care of altering our Liturgy, thought the 
repetition of the word itself was needless, since the sense 
of it was implied in the foregoing versicles : though the 
church always took it for somethmg more than a bare 
repetition of Praise yc the Lord. For in those words the 
minister calls only u{)on the congregation to praise God ; 
whereas in this he was thought to invite the holy angels 
to join with the congregation, and to second our praises 
below with their divine Hallelujahs above. 
Objection §. 6. Some have objected against the dividing of our 
answered, prayers into such small parts and versicles: butlo this 

82 Concil. Vasens. c.3. torn. ii. ii. cap. II. torn. iii. col. 25. B. 
col. 727. E. 83 Augu?l Ep. 119. ad. Jan. 

83 Rev. xiK. 1, -S, 4, 6, kc. ca;'. 15. et 17. Uidor, de Eccl. 

84 De Doctrina Chridiaiin, lib. Offic. lib. i. c. 13. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 133 

we answer, That though there be an alteration anddivis- ?ecf. Vlil. 

ion in the utterance, yet the prayer is but one continued 

form. For though the ciiurch requires that the minister 
speak one portion, arid the people the otlier ; yet both 
the minister and the pcopic oija,ht mentally to oircr up 
and speak to God, what is vocally offered up and spoken 
by each of them respectively. 

Sect. Vlil. Of ike ninely-ffih Fsalnu 

1 HE matter of this psalm sliews it was designed at The Veni- 
firstforthe public service; on the feast of Tabernacles, ^^ Exuite- 
as soFue^^, or on the Sabbath-'J:iy, as others think^^: but "'"'"* 
St. Paul iu'iges it fit for ewYy day, wliik it is called io- 
day^^^ and so it hai been used in ail the Christian world ; 
as the Liturgies of St. Chrysostom and St. Basil witness 
for the Greek Church, the testimony of St. Augustin ior 
•the African*^, and all its ancient offices and capitulars for 
the Western. St. Ambrose saith, that it was the use of 
the church in his time to begin their service With it°° : for 
which reason in the Latin services is called ii'bQ Invifato- 
ry Psalm ; it being always sung with a strong and loud 
voice, to hasten those people into the church, who were 
in the coemetery or church-yard, or any other adjacent 
parts, waiting for the beginning of prayeis^^: agreeable 
to which practice, in the first book of King Edward it is 
ordered, to be said^ or stingy without any (i. e. I suppo.^c 
without any other) inviiatory.^ 

§. 2. Our Reformers very fitly placed it here as a pro- Why used 
per preparatory to the following Psalms, Lessons, and i" ^'''^ 
Collects. For it exhorts us, first, to j^rai^e God, showing ^ 
us in what manner and for what reasons we ought to do 

85 Grot/us \n P$a]ra Ticv. c. 1. torn. v. coi, 889. E. 
37 Calvin in P.^alm. xcv. yj Serna. de Deip. 

88 Heb. iii. 7, 15. 9! DurancLde Divin.Offic.Rati- 

89 Serm. 176. de verb. Aposf. onai.l. 5. c. 3. uumb. 11. (ol.227, 

* Wheatly confound? the invitatory, with the invitatory psalm. In 
the service of the Western Church before the reformation, the inviti- 
tory was con^niorily some select passage or text of scripture, generaiiy 
adapted to tiie day im . useci immediately before ard di&l^n;? the rep- 
etition of tliti venite. The invitatory at certain closes and periods «f 
the psalm, vv.is of old and still i.s in. the Romish church, repeated nine 
limes diiring the sinsing; of the psalm. It was repeated sontetiaies 
'"• perfectly" and sometimes '• imperfectly;" perfectly, when the whole 
was rep' ated ; imperfef tly, when only a part. The repetition of theje 
invitatories was probably considered by the reformers a? an idle triu- 
toloe;y ; and it was ther-iiore abolished. — Shepherd, vol. l.p. 126-8. 
Nichols , note k. to the venile. Am. Ed. 



134 Of the Order 

Chap. Ill it92 . secondly, it exhorts us to pray to him, showing us 
' aiso the manner and reasons^l Lastly, it exhorts us to 
hear God's word speedily and willingly54, giving us a 
caution to beware of hardening our hearts, by an instance 
of the sad event which happened to the Jews on that ac- 
count°*, whose sin and punishment are set before us, that 
we may not destroy our souls, by despising and distrust- 
ing God's holy word as they did^^ For which warning 
we bless the holy Trinity, saying, Glory be to the Fath- 

Sect. IX. Of the Psalms, 

Psalms -^^^ i^5>w, if we have performed the foregoing parts 
why they °^ ^^^ ^.iturgy as we ought, we shall be fitly disposed to 
follow sing the Psalms of David with his own spirit. For all 
riexu that hath been done hitherto was to tune our hearts, 
that we may say, O God, our hearts are ready, we will 
sing and ^,ve praise^''. For having confessed humbly, 
begged forgiveness earnestly, and received the news of 
our Absolution thankfully ; we shall be naturally filled 
with contrition and lowliness, and with desires of breath- 
ing up our souls to heaven. And this, St. Basil tells us^*, 
was a rite that in his time had obtained among all the 
churches of God : " After the Confession (saith he) the 
" people rise from Prayer, and proceed to Psalmody, di- 
" viding themselves into two parts, and singing by turns." 
For the performance of which we can have no greater or 
properer assistance than the Book of Psalms, which is a 
collection of prayers and praises endited by the Holy 
Spirit, composed by devout men on various occasions, 
and so suited to public worship, that they are used by 
Jews as well as Christians. And though the several 
parties of Christians differ in many other things ; yet in 
this they all agree. They contain variety of devotions, 
agreeable to all degrees and conditions of men ; inso- 
much that, without much difficulty, every man may, ei- 
ther directly or by way of accommodation, apply most 
of them to his own case. 
Usedoffen. ^^ 3. For which cause the Church useth these oftener 
©[her^P^rt'^ than any other part of Scripture. Nor can she herein be 
of Scrip- accused of novelty : since it is certain the Temple-Service 



ture. 



92Ver. 1— 5. 96 V^r. 10, 11. 

93 Ver. 6, 7. 97 l^salm cviii. 1. 

94 Ver. 8. 98 Basil, Ep. 63. torn. ii. p.843< 

95 Ver. 8-11. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1 35 

consisted chiefly of forms taken out of the Psalms^^ ; and Sect. IX. 

the prayers of the modern Jews also are mostly gathered 

from thence^ The Christians undoubtedly used them in 

their public service in the times of the Apostles^; and in 

the following ages they were repeated so often at the 

church, that the meanest Christians could rehearse them 

by heart at their ordinary work^ 

§. 3. But now it is objected, that " it cannot reasonably Whether 
" be supposed that all the members of mixed congrega- ^11 the 
" tions can be fit to use some expressions in the Psalms, -^^^^fxed 
" so as to make them their own words ; because very few congrega- 
" have attained to such a degree oi piety and gooJne^^, as tion may 
" David and other Psalmists make profession of; and P^'op^^'J 
" that therefore the Book of Psalms is not now a proper express- 
" part of divine service." ions in the 

To which it is answered: That so long as men contin- Psalms, 
ue in a wicked course of life, they are not only unfit for 
the use of the Psalms, but of any other devotions : they 
are not only uncapable of applying such passages in 
the Psalms to their own persons ; but they cannot so 
much as repeat a penitential psalm, or even the confes- 
sion of sins in the Liturgy, in a proper and ageeable 
manner : since he that does this as he ought, must do it 
with resolutions of amendment. But then as to those 
who have sincerely repented, and in earnest begun a 
virtuous course of life; no reason can be given why 
they may not unite their hearts and voices with the 
church, in rehearsing these Psalms. For we may very 
aptly take a great part of the Psalter as the address of 
tha whole church to almighty God ; and then no doubt 
but every sincere member of this body may perform 
his part in this pious consort. Every true Christian 
may, and must say, that the church, whereof he pro- 
fesses himself a member, is all glorious within, (i. e. v 
adorned with all manner of inward graces and excellen- 
cies,) though no Christian that is humble will presume 
to say so of himself. Perhaps the very best men do 
not think such elevated expressions fit to be applied to 
their single lives, or personal performances : but yet 
any sincere Christian may very well join in the public 
use of these parts of the Psalter, when he considers that 
what he says, or sings, is the voice of the church uni- 

99 1 Chron. xvi.l-3r. xxv.l. 2. 3 Vid. Chrys. Horn. 6. de Pce- 

1 Buxtorf.Synag. Judai.cap.lO. niten. torn. v. col. 741. D. in a La- 

2 1 Cor. xiv. 26. Col. iii. 16. tin edition, printed at Paris 1588. 
James v. 13. 



136 •■■ Of the Order 

Chap. III. versa! ; and that, as he has but a small share of those 
virtues and perfections, which are the ornament of the 
church, the body of Christ; so his tongue is but one, 
among those innumerable choirs of Christians through- 
out the world. And there is no reason to doubt but 
that David did in some Tsalms speak as the representa- 
tive of the church, as in others he expresses himself in 
the person of Christ: and therefore a devout man may 
also as well use these Psalms in his closet, as in the 
church; ifsobehe consider himself, notwithstanding 
his retirement, as one of that large and vast body, who 
serve and worship God according to these forms, night 
and day. liut to return : 
Why ?iing ^^ 4, The custom of singing or repeating the Psalms 
iy course alternately or verse by verse^ seems to be as old as Chris- 
ti;?»nity itself. Nor is there any question to be made 
but that the Christians received it from the Jews; for it 
is plain that several of the Psalms, which were compos- 
ed for the public use of the Temple, were written in 
AmcehcRick^ or alternate verses^. To which way of sing- 
.ing used in the Temple, it is probable the vision of 
Isaiah alluded, which he saw of the Seraphim crying one 
to another^ Holy, holy^ holy, holy^ ^c^ That it was the 
constant practice of the church in the time of St. Basil, 
we have his own testimony : for he writes®, that the 
people, in his tim.e, " rising before it was light, went to 
" the house of prayer, and there, in great agony of soul, 
'• and incessant showers of tears, made confession of 
*' their sins to God ; and then rising from their prnyers, 
'' proceeded to singing of psalms, dividing themselves 
'' into two parts, and singinj^ by turns." Ever since 
t which time it has been thought so reasonable and de- 
cent, as to be universally practised. What Theodoret 
writes^, that Flavianus and Diodorus were the first that 
ordered the P^^alms of Dn\id to he sung alternately at 
Antioch, seems not to be meant of the first institution of 
this custom, but only of the restorin:^ of it, or else of 
the appointing some more conveiucnt way of doing it. 
Isidore says^, that St. Ambrose was the first that intro- 
duced this custom among the Latins; but this too must 
be understood only in relation to bomc alterations that 

4 As tlie cxxiv. anrl ex. iii. &c. et Cc^n?t. Ap. l.ii c.57. 

5 h/K'.h vii.. 3. 7 Hist. Eccl. 1. \l c. 24. 

6 Ei). I'.d tl-'i'iiiii Ncocae'ariens u Ibidor. de Offic. 1. i. c. 7. 
En. 63. torn. ii. p. 813. D. Vide 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 137 

were then made ; for Pope Caelestinc, as we read in Sect. IX. 

his life, applied the Psalms to be sung alternately at the 

celebration of the Eucharist. This practice, so primi- 
tive and devout, our Church (though there is no par- 
ticular rubric to enjoin it) still continues in her service 
either by singing, as in our cathedral worship; or by 
saying, as in the parochial. For in the former, when 
one side of the choir sing to the other, they both pro- 
voke it (as Tertullian* remarks) by a holy contention, 
and relieve it by a mutual supply and change : for 
which reasons, in the parochial service, the reading of 
the Psalms is also divided between the minister and ihe 
people. And indeed did not the congregation bear 
their part, to what end does the minister exhort them to 
praise the Lord ? or what becomes of their promise, that 
their mouths shall shew Jorth his praise ? To what end 
again is the invitatory (0 come let us sing unto the Lord, 
<^c.) placed before the Psalms, if the people are to have 
no share in praising him in the Psalms that follow ? 

§. 5. Nor does the use of Musical Instruments in the Musical in- 
singing of Psalms appear to be less ancient than the cus- s^r^n'.ents 
torn itself of singing them. The first Psalm we read of singing of 
was sung to a Timbrel, viz. that which Moses and Miri- Psalms, 
am sang after the deliverance of the children of Israel 
from Egypt^^ And afterwards at Jerusalem, when the 
Temple was built. Musical Instruments were constantly 
used at their public services*^ Most of David's Psalms 
we see by the titles of them, were committed to masters 
of music to be set to various tunes: and in the hundred 
and fiftieth Psalm especially, the prophet calls upon the 
people to prepare their different kinds of instruments 
wherewith to praise the Lord. And this has been the 
constant practice of the church in most ages, as well 
since, as before the coming of Christ^^ 

When Organs were first brought into use, is not clear- Organs 
ly known : but we find it recorded that about the year ^^^^J^^^ 
766, Constantius Copronymus, Emperor of Constanti- 
nople, sent a present of an Organ to King Pepin of 
France^^; and it is certain that the use of them has been 

9 Sonant inter duo? Psalmi et 12 Basil, in Psalm, i. torn. i. p. 
Hjmni, et mutuo provocant quis 126.B. Eusfb Hi'tnr. Eccles. lib. 
meliusDeo suo cantet : TaliaChria- 2. c. 17. p. -j?. C. Dio >s Areop. 
tu3 videnset audiens gaudet. Tert. de Eccles. Hier.c. 3. p. 89.1).lsid. 
ad Uxor, ad finem, 1.2. p. 172. B. Ptleu?. 1. l.Ep.90. p 29. A. 

10 Exod. XV. 20. 13 Aventin. Annal. Bojorum,!- 

11 2 Sam. vi.5 1 Chron. xv.l6. 3.f. 300. as cited in Mr.Gregory's 
2 Chron. v. 12, and xxix. 25. Posthumous Works, p. 49. 

R 



138 Of the Order 

Chap. III. very common now for several hundred of years ; Du- 
~' rand mentioning them several times in his book, but giv- 
ing no intimation of their novelty in divine service. 
tobeTe-""^ §. 6. When we repeat the Psalms and Hymns vire 
peated Stand; that, by the erection of our bodies, we may ex- 
standing, press the elevation or lifting up of our souls to God. 
Though another reason of our standing is, because 
some parts of them are directed to God, and others 
are not : as therefore it would be very improper 
to kneel at those parts which are not directed to 
him ; so it would be very indecent to sit, when wc re- 
peat those that are. And therefore because both these 
parts, viz. those which are, and those which are not di- 
rected to God, are so frequently altered, and mingled 
one with another, that the most suitable posture for each 
of them cannot always be used : standing is prescribed 
as a posture which best suits both together; which is 
also consonant to the practice of the Jewish church re- 
corded in the Scripture. For we read", that while the 
Priests and Levites were offering up praises to God, all 
Israel stood. And we learn from the ritualists of the 
Christian church^*, that when they came to the Psalms, 
they always showed the affection of their souls by this 
The Glo- posture of their bodies. 

ria Patri §. 7. At the end of every Psalm^ and ofeveay part of 
repeated ^/jg hundred and nineteenth Psalm^^ , and all the Hymns, 
of alTihe^ (except the Te Deum ; which, because it is nothing else 
Psalms almost but the Gloria Patri enlarged, hath not this Dox- 
and ology annexed,) we repeat Glory be to the Father^irr.^ cus- 

Hymns. ^qjj-j vvhich Durandus would have us believe was institu- 
ted by Pope Daraasus, at the request of St. Jeromii^: but 
for this there appears to be but little foundation. In 
the Eastern churches they never used this Glorification, 
but only at the end of the last Psalm, which they called 
iheir Antiphona, or Allelujah, as being one of those 
Psalms which had the Allelujah, perfixed to it^^ : but in 
France, and several other of the Western churches, it 
was used at the end of every Psalm*^ : which is still 
continued with us, to signify that we believe that the 
same God that is glorified in the Psalms, having been 
from the beginning, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as 

14 2 Chron. \\l 6. \7 Durand. Rational. I. 5, c. 2, 

15 Vide Amal. Fort. lib. 3. cap. ii. 17. fol. 214 

3. Dnrand. Rational. lib.5.cap.2. 18 Cassian. Institut. 1. 2. c. 8. 

16 See the order how the Psall- Strabo de Reb. Eccles. c. 25. 
er is appointed to be read. 19 Cassian. ut supra. 



for Mommg and Evening Prayer, 1 39 

well as now. So that the Gloria Patri is not any real Sect. ix. 
addition to the Psalms, but is only used as a necessary 
expedient to twrn the Jewish Psalms into Christian 
Hymns, and fit them for the use of the Church now, as 
Ihey were before for the use of the Synagogue. The course 

§. 8. The present division of the Book of Psalms into observed ia 
several portions (whereby two separate portions are "^a^J^gthe 
affixed to each day, and the circle of the whole to the 
circuit of the month) seems to be more commodious and 
proper than any method that had been used before. For 
the division of them into seven portions called NocturnSj 
which took up the whole once a week, (as practised in 
the Latin Church,) seemed too long and tedious. And 
the division of them into twenty portions, to be read 
over in so many days, (as in the Greek Church,) though 
less tedious, is too uncertain, every portion perpetually 
shifting its day : whereas in our Church, each portion 
being constantly fixed to the same day of the month, 
{except there be proper Psalms appointed for that day, as 
all the former Common Prayer Books expressed it,) 
the whole being divided into threescore different por- 
tions, (i. e. one for every morning, and one for every 
evening service,) none of them can be thought too tedi- 
ous or burdensome. In all the old Common Prayer 
Books indeed, because January and March have one day 
above the number of thirty, (which, as concerning this pur- 
pose, was appointed to every month,) and February, which 
is placed between them both, halh only twenty-eight days ; 
it was ordered, that February should borrow of either of 
the months (of January and March) one day : and so the 
Psalter which was read in February, began at the last day 
of January, and ended the first day of March* And to 
know what Psalms were to be read every day, there 
was (pursuant to another rubric) a column added in the 
calendar, to shew the number that was appointed for the 
Psalms ; and another table where the same number be- 
ing found, showed what Psalms were to be read at Morn- 
ing and Evening Prayer. But this being found, to be 
troublesome and needless, it was ordered first in the 
Scotch Liturgy, and then in our own, that in February 
the Psalter should be readonly to the twenty-eighth or twenty 
ninth day of the month. And January and March were 
inserted into the rubric, which before ordered that in 
May and the rest of the months that had one and thirty 
days apiece, the same Psalms should be read the last day of 
the said months, which were read the day before : so thai 



140 Of the Order 

Chap. III. the Psalter may begin again the first day of the next 

month ensuing* 

ThePsaifus r ^ j.^^ Psalais we use in our daily service are not 

to be used .^ r • t c t i "^ i • r i 

according taken out oi either of the two last translations of the 
to the Bible, but out of the great English Bible, translated by 
^^»''*^*'°'J William Tyndaland Miles Coverdale, and revised by 
Biblef ^^ Archbishop Cranmer : for when the Common Prayer 
was compiled in I54B, neither of the two last trans- 
lations were extant. 

It is true indeed, that at the last review the Epistles and 
Gospels were taken out of the new translation : and 
the Lessons too, since that time, have been read out of 
King James the First's Bible. But in relation to the 
Psalms it was noted, that the Psalter followeth the division 
of the Hebrews, and the translation of the great English 
Bible set forth and used in the time of King Henry the 
Eighth^ and King Edward the sixth^. The reason of 
the continuance of which order is the plainness and 
smoothness of this translation : for the Hebraisms be- 
ing not so much retained in this as in the late translations, 
the verses run much more musical and fitter for devo- 
tion. Though, as the old rubric informs us, this tran- 
slation,/ro»i the ninth Psalm wito the hundred and forty* 
eighth Psalm, doth vary in numbers from the common La- 
tin translation* 

Sect. X. Of the Lessons, 

The Les- ()UR hearts being now raised up to God in praising 
sons, why ^^d admiring; him in the Psalms ; we are in a fit temper 
they fol- ^^j disposition to hear what he shall speak to us by 

jow the , . 1*11 • • . ' ' ■ 

Pealms. his wor(J, And thus too a respite or intermission is 
given to the brnt of our minds: for whereas they were 
required to be active in the Psalms, it is sufficient if in 
the Lessons they hold themselves attentive. And 
therefore now follow two chapters of the Bible, one 
out of the Old Testament, the other out of the New, 
to shew the harmony between the Law and the Gospel : 
for what is the Law, but the Gospel foreshowed ? what is 
the Gospel but the Law fulfilled? That which lies in the 
Old Testament, as under a shadow, is in the New 
brought out into the open sun: things there prefigured 
are here performed. And tor this reason the first Lesson 
is taken out of the Old Testament, the second out of the 

22 See the order how (he Psalter is appointed to be read. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 141 

New, that so the minds of the hearers may be gradually Sect. X. 
led from darker revelations to clearer views, and pre- 
pared by the vails of the law to bear the light break- 
ing forth in the Gospel. 

§. 2. And here it ma}'- not be amiss to observe the The anti- 
great antiquity of joining the reading of the Scriptures q"ity of 
to the public devotions of the Church. Justin Martyr l-«sson?. 
says, " It was a custom in his time to read Lrssons out 
'' of the Prophets and Apostles in the assembly of the 
" faithful ^^" And the council of Laodicea, held in the 
beginning of the fourth century, ordered " Lessons to 
" be mingled with the Psalms^^" And Cassian tells us, 
that, '' It was the constant custom of all the Christians 
" throughout Egypt to have two Lessons, one out of 
" the Old Testament, and another out of the New, read 
"immediately after the Psalms; a practice, he says, so 
" ancient, that it cannot be known whether itwasfound- 
" ed upon any human institution^'." Nor has this prac- 
tice been peculiar to the Christians only, but constantly 
used also by the Jews; who divided the books of Mo- 
ses into as many portions as there are weeks in the 
year; that so, one of those portions being read over 
every sabbath-day, the whole might be read through 
every year^'*. And to this answers that expression of 
St. James ^*, that Moses was read in the Synagogues every 
sabbath-day. And that to this portion of the Law they 
added a Ijcsson out of the Prophets, we may gather 
from the thirteenth of the Acts, where we find it men- 
tioned that the Law and the Prophets were both read 
in a Synagogue where St. Paul was present *^ and that 
the Prophets was read at Jerusalem every sabbath-day^"^ , 

§. 3. For the choice of these Lessons and their or- The order 
der, the Church observes a different course. For the ^^^^^ first 
first Lessons on ordinary days, she observes only this ; ^^ o°dina- 
to begin at the beginning of the year with Genesis, and ^y days. 
so to continue on till all the books of the Old Testament 
are read over; only omitting the Chronicles (which 
are for the most part the same with the books of Samuel 
and Kings, which have been read before) and other 
particular chapters, in other books, which are left out, 
either for the same reason, or else because they con- 

21 Apol. 1. cap.sr. p. 131. 24 See Ainsworth on Gen. vi.9. 

22 Can. 17. Concil. torn i. col. 25 Acts xv. 21. 
1500. B. 26 Ver. 15. 

23 Cassian. de Inst. men. lib.2. 27 Ver. 27. See also Prideaux's 
c. 4. Connection, octa. v. i. p.333. &c. 



142 Of the Order 

Chap. Ill tain genealogies, names of persons or places, or some 

' other matterless profitable for ordinary hearers. 

So^omo"n '^'^^ '^°"S ^^ Solomon, or the book of Canticles, is 

why omit- wholly omitted ; because if not spiritually understood, 

ted. (which very few people are capable of doing, especially 

so as to put a tolerably clear sense upon it,) it is not 

proper for a mixed congregation. The Jews ordered 

that none should read it till they were thirty years old, 

for an obvious reason, which too plainly holds amongst 

why omit- Very many chapters in Ezekiel are omitted, upon 
ted. account of the mystical visions in which they are 

wrapt up. Why some others are omitted does not so 
plainly appear, though doubtless the compilers of 
our Liturgy thought there was sufficient reason for it. 
Isaiah,why After all the canonical books of the Old Testament 
ithrias^t ° ^^^ re2Ld through, (except Isaiah, which being the most 
evangelical Prophet, and containing the clearest pro- 
phecies of Christ, is not read in the order it stands in 
the Bible, but reserved to be read a iittle before, and 
in Advent, to prepare in us a true faith in the mystery 
of Christ's incarnation and birth, the commemoration of 
which at that time draws nigh ;) after all the rest, I 
^ _ say, to supply the remaining part of the year, several 
phal books, books of the Apocrapha are appointed to be read, 
npon what which, though not Canonical, have yet been allowed, by 
aocomits the judgment of the Church for many ages past, to be 
Lessons, ecclesiastical and good, nearest to divine of any writ- 
ings in the world. For which reason the books of 
Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, and the Macca- 
bees, were recommended by the council of Carthage" 
to be publicly read in the church. And Ruffinus 
testifies^ that they were all in use in his time, though 
not with an authority equal to that of the canonical 
books. And that the same respect was paid to them 
in latter ages, Isidore Hispalensis^'^, and Rabanus Mau- 
rus^^ both affirm. 

In conformity to so general a practice, the Church of 
England still continues the use of these books in her 
public service : though not with any design to lessen 
the authority of canonical Scripture, which she expressly 
affirms to be the only rule of faith : declaring32, that the 
Church doth read the other books for example of life and in- 

28 Cap. 27. 30 De Eccles. Offic. lib. 1. c. 11. 

29 Ruffin. in Symb. 31 De Instit. Eccles. I. 2. c. 53. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. 1 43 

siruction of manners^ but yet doth not apply them to establish Sect. X. 

any doctrine. Nor is there any one Sunday in the whole 

year, that has any of its Lessons taken out of the A- 
pocrapha. For as the greatest assemblies of Christians 
are upon those days, it is wisely ordered that they 
should then be instructed out of the undisputed word of 
God. And even on the week days, the second Lessons 
are constantly taken out of canonical Scripture, which 
one would think should be enough to silence our adver- 
saries ; especially as there is more canonical Scripture 
read in our churches in any two months (even though 
we should except the Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels) 
than is in a whole year in the largest of their meetings. 
But to return : 

§. 4. The course of the first lessons appointed for "^^-^ ^^st 
Sundays is different from that which is ordained for the g^^^^a°ysf ^ 
Week-days. For from Advent Sunday to Septuagesima 
Sunday, some particular chapters out of Isaiah are ap- 
pointed, for the aforesaid reason. But upon Septuagesi- 
ma Sunday Genesis is begun : because then begins the 
time of penance and mortification, to which Genesis suits 
best, as treating of the original of our misery by the 
fall of Adam, and of God's severe judgment upon the 
world for sin. For which reason the reading of this 
book was affixed to Lent, even in the primitive ages of 
the church^. Then are read forward the books as 
they lie in order : not all the books, but (because more 
people can attend the public worship of God upon 
Sundays than upon other days) such particular chap- 
ters are selected, as are judged most edifying to all that 
are present. And if any Sunday be (as some call it) 
a privileged day, i, e. if it hath the history of it express- 
ed in Scripture, such as Easter-day, Whit-Sunday, &;c. 
then are peculiar and proper Lessons appointed.* 

32 In her sixth Article. 106. et torn. ii. Horn, 1. p. lO.Ed. 

33 Chrysost. torn. i. Horn. 7. p. Pahs, 160y. 

* The arraDgement of lessons from the Old Testament appointed for 
Sundays in the American Church, is different from that observed in the 
English. From Advent to Septuagessima, nearly the same order is 
observer in both ; but from Septuagessima to Easter, in the American 
service, passages from the Prophets of a penitential character, or ex- 
horting to repentance are read ; from Easter to Whitsunday, chapters 
from the prophets adapted to the season ; and from Trinity Sunday 
to the 22d Sunday after Trinity, selections from the Historical Books. 
The remainder of the year, the lessons from the book of Pr verbs co- 
incides nearly with those in the English service. The lessoits from 
the New Testament in the English Prayer Book, are those appointed 



. 144 Of the Order 

Chap. III. §. 5. Upon Saints-days another order is observed :. 

'- for upon them the Church appoints Lessons out of the 

The first uioral books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesias- 

forSaints- ^i^us, and Wisdoni, which containing excellent instruc- 

days. lions of life and conversation, are fit to be read upon 

the days of Saints, whose exemplary lives and deaths 

are the causes of the Church's solemn commemoration 

of Inem, and commendation of them to us. 

For other ^, g. Other Holy-days, such as Christmas-day, Cir- 

oy- ays cu'acision. Epiphany* &,c. have proper and peculiar 

Losson appointed suitable to the occasions, as shall be 

shewn hereafter when I speak of those several days. 

I shall only observe here, that there have been proper 

Lessons appointed on all Holy-days, as w'ell Saints- 

d )ys as oihers, ever since St. Austin's time ^*: though 

perhaps they vvere not reduced into an exact order till 

the time of vlusaeus, a famous priest of Massilia, who 

lived about the year 4:^0. Of whom Gennadius writes, 

that he particularly applied himself, at the request of 

St. Venerius a Bishop, to choose out proper Lessons 

for all the festivals in theyear^^ 

The order ^^ 7. ^s for the second Lessons, the Church observes 

ond Les-^' ^^^ same course upon Sundays as she doth upon Week- 



sons. 



34 August, in Procem. Ep. Jo- 35 Gennadiu3 de Viris illustri- 
han. : bus, cap. 79. 

for the day of the month. In the American, there are lessons special- 
ly appointed for all the Sundays in the year. The principal part of 
these alterations were made in what is now called ''the proposed Book," 
or the Liturgy set forth under the authority of the Convention of 1785 ; 
and the following reasons ;or them are givea in the preface. " The 
same reasons which occasioned a table of first lessons for Sundays and 
other Hol>-day',, seemed to require the making of a table of second 
lessons also, which is accordingly done. Those for the morning are 
intended to suit the several seasons, without any material repetition 
of the epistles and gospels for the same seasons ; and those for the 
evening are selected in the order of the sacred bookf* Besides this 
the tal>ie of first lessons has been reviewed ; and some new chapters 
are introduced on the supposition of their being more edifying ; and 
some tianspoi^itions of lessons have been made, the better to suit the 
seasons." The committee who were empowered bythe cuQveutioa of 
1785 to form the Calendar, were the Rev. Dr. White, the present ven- 
er ble Bialiop of Pennsylvania, the Rev. Dr. Smith, and the Rev. Dr. 
Wliaiion. The committee appointed by the convention of 1769 to 
prepare a Caleiiddr and Table of Lessons for morning and evening 
priiyer throuj^hoiit the ye^r, were the Rev. Dr. P<irker, (afterwards 
Bisliop of Massachusetts,) the Rev. Dr. Moore, (afterwards Bishop of 
>ert-York.) the Rev. Mr. Bond, Dr. Clarkson, and the Rev. Mr. Jar- 
vi^ (afterwards Bishop of Connecticut) Their report having been 
am* jided by the house of Bishops, Mras ratified by the Convention, and 
is now the order used la the American Church. Am. Ed. 



for Morning nnd EzQaing Prayer, 145 

daj^s; reading the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles iu i^ect. X. 
the morning, and the Epistles at evening, in the same '"' 
order they stand in the New-Testament ; except upon 
Saints-days and Holy-days, when such Lessons are ap- 
pointed, as either explain the mystery, relate the histo- 
ry, or apply the example tt) us. 

§. 8. The Revelation is wholly omitted, except the The Reve- 
first and last chapters (which are read upon the day of J^^'^" °"," 
St. John the Evangelist, w^ho was the author) and part '^i?y,'^'^ 
of the nineteenth chapter (which containing the praises 
and adoration paid to God by the Angels and Saints in 
heaven, is very properly appointed to be read on the 
festival of All-Saints.) But, except upon these occasions, 
none of this book is read openly in the Church for Les- 
sons, by reason of its obscurity, which renders it unin-' 
telligible to meaner capacities. 

§. 9. And thus we see, by the prudence of the church, ' ^*| ^||^ 
the Old Testament is read over once, and the New visenilne&s 
thrice (u c. excepting some less useful parts of both) in of this 
the space of a year, conformable to the practice of the "method, 
ancient fathers : who (as our Reformers^'^ tell us) so or- 
dered the matter^ that the, whole Bible, or the greatest part 
thereof, should be read over once every year; intend* 
ing thereby that the Clergy, and especially such as were 
Ministers in the Congregation, should {by often nading 
and meditating in God'^s word) he stirred to godliness them- 
selves, and be more able to exhort others by wholesome doc- 
trine, and to confute them that were adversaries to the truth : 
and further, that the People (by daily hearing the holy Scvip- 
tures read in the Church) might continually profit more 
and more in the knowledge of God, and be more inflamed 
with the love of his true religion. Whereas in the Church 
of Rome this godly and decent order was so altered, 
broken, and neglected, by planting in uncertain Stories 
and Legends*^ with multitude of Responds't, Verse^ vain 

36 In the Preface concerning the Service of the Church. 



* Uncertain Stories and Legends.] By these are to he un- Legends, 
derstood those Legendary Stories, which the Roman Brevi- what they 
aries appoint to be read on their Sahits-days : which being were, 
almost as numerous as the days in the year, there is hardly 
a day free from having idle tales mixed in its service. Nor 
is this remarkable only in their Lessons upon their modern 
Saints; but even the stories of the Apostles are so scandal- 

S 



146 Of tfiB Order 

Chap. III. repetitions^ Commemorations^, and SynodcHs\\ ; that, com- 
rnonly, when any hook of the Bible 7d;is begun, after three 
Or four chapters were read out, all the rest Tjoere unread. 
And in this sort the book of Isaiah roas begun in Advent, 
and the book of Genesis in Septuagesima : but they were 
only heguii, and never read through : after like sort were 
other books of holy Scripture used. — Moreover^ the num- 
ber and hardness of the rides called the PzelT, and the 



ously blended with monkish fictions, that all wise and consci* 

encious Christians must nauseate and abominate their service. 

Respond?, t Responds.] A Respond is a short Anthem,interrupting the 

what they middle of a chapter, which is not to proceed till the Anthem 

^^^^^' is done. The long Responses are used at the close of the 

Lessons, 
^.r^^'' t ^^rses ] By the verses here mentioned are to be under- 

^ ^"^ ' stood either the Versicle that follows the Respond in the Bre- 

. viary,orelse those h3''mns which are proper to everjf Sunday 
and Holy-day ; which (except some few) are a parcel of des- 
picable monkish Latin verses, composed in the most illiter- 
ate ages of Christianity. 
Commem- § Co?/??Re?nomtion5.] Commemorations are the mixing the 
nioratioiis, ser\dce of some Holy-day of lesser note, with the service of 
what. a Sunday or Holy-day of greater emineucy, on which the less 

Holy-day happens to fall. In which case it is appointed by 
the ninth general rule in the Breviar}^, that only the Hymns, 
Verses, &c, and some other part of the service of the lesser 
Holy-day be annexed to tiiat of the greater. 
Synodal?, II Synodals.] These were the publication or recital of the 
What they provincial constitutions in the parish-churches. For after 
were. the conclusion of every provincial S^'nod, the canons there- 

of were to be read in the churches, and the tenor of them 
to be declared and made known to the people ; and some of 
them to be annually repeated on certain Sundays in the 
year^^. 
Fie, why '\^Pie.] The word Pie some suppose derives its name from - 

so called, n/i-fcl, which the Greeks sometimes use for Table or Index ^ 
though others think these Tables or Indexes were called the 
Pie, from the parti-coloured letters whereof they consisted; 
the initial, and some other remarkable letters and words be- 
ing done in red, and the rest all in black. And upon this ac- 
count, when they translate it into liatin, they call it Pica. 
From whence it is suf)[)osed, that when Printing came in use, 
Pica Let- those letters which were of a moderate size (i. e. about the 
ter=, from ijijrness of those in these Comments and Tables) were call- 
;;;;;;y;^"^" edPicaletters38. 

37 See Dr. Nichols in lis nctes on the word Synodals in the Preface 
concerning the Sf rvice of the Church. 38 See ditto. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1 47 

'■nanifold changings of the servke, was the cause, that to ^^^^- ■^• 
turn the book only was so hard and intricate a matter, 
that many times there was more business to find out lohat 
shoidd be read, than to read it when it was found out. 

These inconvenieneies therefore considered, here is set 
forth such an order, whereby the same shall be redressed. 
And for a readiness in this matter, here is drawn out a Cal- 
endar for that purpose, which is plain and easy to be un- 
derstood ; wherein {so much as may be) the reading of 
holy Si^ripture is set forth, that all things should be done 
in order, without breaking one piece from another. For 
this cause be cut off Jlniheme, Responds, Invitatories, and 
such like things, as did break the continual course of the 
reading of the Scripture. 

Yet, because there is no remedy but that of necessity, 
there must be some rides ; therefore certain rules are here 
set forth, zohich as they are few in number, so they are 
plain and easy to be understood. So that here you have an 
order for Prayer, and for the reading of the holy Scripture, 
much agreeable to the mind and purpose of the old fathers, 
and a great deal more profitable and commodious than 
that which of late was used. It is mote profitable, be- 
cause here are left out many things, whereof some are 
untrue, some uncertain, some vain and supersiitious ; 
and nothing is ordered to be read, but the very pure word 
of God, the holy Scriptures, or thai which is agreeable to 
the same ; and that, in such a language and o^^der, as is 
most easy and plain for the understanding both of the 
readers and heai ers : it is also more commodious, both for 
the shortness thereof, and for the plainness of the order, 
and for that the rules be few and easy, 

§. 10. The Scripture being the word of God, and so a The pos- 
declaration of his will ; the reading of it or making it ^'^^ of the 
known to the people is an act of authority, and there- 
fore the minister that reads the Lessons is to stand. 
And because it is an oifice directed to the congregation, 
by all the former Common Prayer Books, it was ordered, 
that {to the end the people may the better hear) in such places 
where they do sing, there shall the Lessons be sung in aplain 
tune, after the manner of distinct reading : mid likewise 
the Epistle and the Gospel, But that rubric is now left 
out, and the minister is only directed to read distinctly 
with an audible voice and to turn himself so as he may best Reading- 
fee heard of all »uch as are present : which shows, that in Pews to 
time of prayer the minister used to look another way ; ^^^^ ^^o 
a custom still observed in some parish-churches, where ^^ 



14^ Of the Order 

Chap. III. the reading-pews have two desks : one for the Bible, 

, }QQ|^}pg towards the body of the churcl) to the y^eoplc ; 

another for the Prayer Book, looking towards the East 
or ypper ^^^ ^^ ^^^ chancel ; in conformity to the prac- 
tice of the priaiitive church, which, as 1 have alread}'-3> 
observed, paid a more than ordinary reverence in their 
worship towards the East. 
The nam- §. ] i. Before every Lesson the minister is directed to 
l'e=sons^^ give notice to the people what chapter he reads, by say- 
^c. ' i'"ig, Here beginneth s^uch a chapter^' or verse of such a 
chapter^ of such a book: that so the people, if they have 
their Bibles with them, may, by looking over them, be 
the more attentive. The care of the primitive church 
in this case was very remarkable. Befoi'e the Lesson 
began, the Deacon first stood tip, calling out aloud, 
Let us listen, my brethren ; and then be that read invited 
his audience to attention, by introducing the Lesson 
with these words : Thus saith the Lord^^. After every 
Lesson the minister with us is also directed to give no- 
tice that il is finished, by saying, Here endcth the first or 
second Lesson ; which is the form now prescribed in- 
stead of the old* one, Here endelh such a chapter of such a 
hook, which were the wqrds enjoined by all our former 
Liturgies. 
^., ^^^ §. 12. As for the people, there is no posture prcscrib- 
tnre oahe ed for them ; but in former times they always stood, to 
people. show their reverence. It is recorded of the Jews in the 
book of Nehemiah^S that when Ezra opened the book of 
the law, in the sight of the people, all the people stood up. 
And in the first ages of Christianity those only were 
permitted to sit, who by reason of old age, or some oth- 
er infirmity, were not able to stand throughout the whole 
time of divine service'*^. And it is very observable, 
that another cereniony used by the Christians of those 
times, before the reading of the Lessons, was the wash- 
ing their hands^"% a ceremony said to be still used by the 
Turks, before they touch their Alcoran, who also write 
thereupon. Let 7\o unclean person touch //i?^'*; which 
should excite us at least to prepare ourselves in such a 
manner, as may fit us to hear the word of God, and to 
express such outward reverence, as may testify a due 
regard to its Author. 

39 Pai-e 90. 43 Chry?. Horn. 53 in Joan. 

40 Ch'iysost. in Act.9.Hom,19. torn. ii. p. 776. lin. 3,4. 

41 Chap. viii. 5. 44 Mr. Gregory's Pref. to hla 

42 August. Serm. 300. in Ap- Noles and Observations upon 
pend. ad tom. v, col. 504, B. Scripture, page 3. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 149 

r> I'r j-\r- 1 IT ' r-i f Sect. Xj 

OECT. AI. Of the Hymns in utnerai. 



The use of Hjmns among Christians is undoubtedlj ^^^^ ^ ^j^ 
as old as the times of the Apostles^^ : and we Jearn both q„ity of 
from the observation of St. Augustin'^^, and from the H^mn?. 
canons of the church'"', that Hymns and Psalms were 
intermingled with the Lessons, that so by variety the 
people might be secured against weariness and distrac- 
tion. 

§. 2. But besides antiquity, reason calls, for this in- '^'•^ ^ea- 
terposition of Hymns, in respect to the great benefit we ^^"g f' 
may receive fron^ the word of God : for if we daily bless them after 
him for our ordinary meat and drink, how much more the Lcf- 
are we bound to glorify him for the food of our souls ? *°"^- 

§. 3. That we may not therefore want forms of praise when first 
proper for the occasion, the Church hath provided us added. 
with two after each Lesson, both in the morning and 
evening service ; leaving it to the disci^ction of him that 
ministereth, to use those which he thinks most con- 
venient and suitable ; though in the first Common Pray- 
er Book of King Edward VI. there was only one pro- 
vided for a Lesson ; the hundredth, the ninety-eighth, 
and the sixty -seventh Psalms, not being added till 1552. 
The Te Deum and the Benedicite indeed were both in 
the first book ; but not for choice, but to be used one 
at one time of the j^ear, and the other at another, as the 
next section will show. 

Sect. Xn. Of the Hymns after the frst Lessons, 

Having heard the holy precept and useful examples, Plymns af- 
the comfortable promises and just threatnings contained ter the first 
in the first Lesson, we immediately break out into 
praising God for illuminating our minds, for quickening 
our affections, for reviving our hopes, for awakening 
our sloth, and for confirming our resolutions. 

I, For our supply and assistance in which reasonable 2^^ Te 
duty, the Church has provided us two ancient Hymns; Bene^icUft 
ihe one called Te Deum, from the first words of it in La- why so 
tin, {Te Deum Laudamus, We praise thee O God ;) the called 
other Benedicite, for the same reason, the beginning of 
it in Latin being Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino j 

45 Matt. xxvi. so. Col. v. 16. 47 Concil. Laod.Can. I^.Con- 
James v. 13. cil. torn. x. col. 1.500. 0. 

46 Serm. J76.tom.T.-:ol. 839,D. 



150 Of the Order 

Clmp. 111. Qp^ Q all ye w9rks of the Lord^ bless ye the Lord. The 
_ former of these is now most frequently used, and the lat- 

ter only upon some particular occasions, 
nlrrfhe §• ^' '-^'^^ ^^''^^ (^^ '^ '^ generally believed) was com- 
Te Deum. posed by St. Ambrose for the baptism of St. Augustin'*^: 
since which time it has ever been held in the greatest 
esteem, and daily repeated in the church : so that it is 
now of above thirteen hundred years standing.* The 
Hymn itself is rational and majestic, and in all particu- 
lars worthy of the spouse of Christ ; being above all 
the composures of men uninspired, fittest for the tongues 
of men and angels, 
or the Be- jf. The Other was an ancient Hymn in the Jewish 
Sonli'ofthe ^^"^'ch, and adopted into the public devotions of the 
three chil- Christians from the most early times. St. Cyprian 
drenjts quotes it as part of the holy Scriptures'*^: in which 
anijqujty. opinion he is seconded by Ruffinus, who very severely 
inveighs against St. Jerom for doubting of its divine au- 
thority; and informs us, that it was used in the church 

48. St. Greg. lib. 3. Dial. cap. hinn, gives an account of this. — 

4. mentions Ducius Bishop of Mi- See also St. Beonet Reg. cap. 11. 

Ian, A. D. 55r. who. in the fir^t 49 De Orat. Dom. p. 142. 
book of the Ghrouicjea writ by 

♦The Benedictine Editors of the work? of St. Ambrose speak of 
this ftory ai a mere fub!e, rind i-ay that it was admitted to be so by 
all the learned of their age: they have accordingly not inserted the 
Te Deum, among the Hyfnns of St. Ambrose. Their opinion is ex- 
pressed in very etiong terms. '' De cantico Eucharistico, Te Deum 
Jaudamns, pig-eret hjc anxie dicere ; nemo qulppe est hac nostra atate 
non plane rudis, qui fabulam esse injiciatur^ quod eumdem hymnuin 
post baptisatum ah -Ainbrosio magnum Augustinum ah utroqut aller- 
nis vicibiLs decantalum olim jaclabant.'''' Opera, vol. II. 1218. 

A7n. Ed. 

*' In two ancient MSS, an old collection of Hymns and an old 
psalter, Abp. Usher found Te Deum ascribed to St. Nicetius, Bishop of 
Triers, who, as Stillingfleet, Cave and the learned in general think, 
composed this Hymn for the Jise of the Gallican church. He flour- 
ished about A. D. 535, nearly lOO years after the death of Ambrose. 
From this period the hymn is often mentioned, and the use of it ia 
repeatedly pi escribed. Bnl before this time, it is confidently affirm- 
ed not to be noticed bj' any writer of credit ; which affords at least 
presumptive evidence, that it was not extant in the lime of Ambrose. 
IVhoeverwas the author of Te Deum, its excellence is surpassed by 
no human composition. Indeed the composition alone is human, the ma- 
terials art! of divine original. Ever since its introduction info the ofli- 
ces of the Church, M'hich took place in the 6th century, it has deser- 
vedly been held in the highest estimation. And the venerable com- 
pilers of our Liturgy have with great propriety retained this hymn in 
the daily morning service. It has been asked why the doxology Gloria 
fiiJri.isnot appointed to be said after this hymn? We reply that the 
hymn itself is an ampliSed doxology."— 5/iep/ten?. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer* 1 5 1 

long before bis time, who himself lived A. D. 390^^ And Sect. XiL 
when afterwards it was left out by some that performed 
divine service, the fourth council of Toledo, in the year 
633, commanded it to be used, and excommunicated the 
Priests that omitted it". Our church indeed does not 
receive it for canonical Scripture, because it is not to 
be found in the Hebrew^ nor was allowed in the Jewish 
canon ; but it is notwithstanding an exact paraphrase of 
the hundred and forty-eighth Psalm, and so like it in 
words and sense that whoever despiseth this, reproach- 
eth that part of the canonical writings. 

§. 2. As to the subject of it, itii an elegant summons ?^^*^ ^"^.'' 
to all God's works to praise him ; intimating that they ^^^ 
all set out his g:lory, and invite us, who have the benefit 
of them, to join with thege three children (to whom so 
great and wonderful a deliverance was given)- in ^?'ai5m^ 
and magnifying the Lord forever. 

§. 3. So that when we would glorify God for his when pr^^ 
works, which is one main end of the Lord's day ; or per to be 
when the Lessons treats of the creation, or sets before ^'^^^' 
us the wonderful works of God in any of his creatures, 
or the use he makes of them either ordinary or mirac- 
ulous for the good of the church ; this hymn may very 
seasonably be used. Though in the first Common 
Prayer Book of King Edward VL Te Deum was ap- 
pointed daily throughout the year ; except in Lent, all the 
which time in the place of the Te Deum, Benedicite was to be 
used. So that, as I have already observed, they were 
tiot originally inserted for choice ; but to be used at 
different parts of the year. But when the second book 
came out with double Hymns for the other Lessons; 
these also were left indifferent at the discretion of the 
minister, and the words, Or this Canticle^ inserted be- 
fore the Hymn we are now speaking of. 

III. After the first Lesson at Evening Prayer, two Of tbe 
other Hymns are appointed both af them taken out of ^Jagmfi 
canonical Scripture: the first is the Song of the bless- g^'^Q^^jJ^ 
ed Virgin, Magnificat, from its first word in Latin. It blescedVir- 
is the first Hymn recorded in the New-Testament, and, g»n Mary. 
from its ancient use among the primitive Christians, 
has been continued in the offices of the reformed^^ 
churches abroad, as well as in ours.* 

50 Ruffin. 1. 2. adv. Hieron. 52 See Dnreirs View of the 

51 Can. 14. Coucil. torn. v. Reformed Churches, page 38. 
col. 1710. C. D. 

♦For the Magnificat, the compilerg of the American Liturgy have 
sabstituted the first four verses of the 92d psalm. This was p robablj 



152 OflU Order 

Chap. III. Por as the holy Virgin, when she reflected upon the 
'- promises of the Old-Testament, now about to be ful- 
filled in the mysterious conception and happy birth 
of which God had designed her to be the instrument, 
expressed her joy in this form; so we, when we hear 
in the Lesson?, like examples of his mercy, and are told 
of those prophecies and promises which were then 
fulfilled, may not improperly rejoice with her in the 
same words, as having a proportionable share of inter- 
est in the same blessing, 
orthe I^^' But when the first Lesson treats of some great 
ninety- and temporal delivercnce granted to the peculiar peo- 
eighth p]g Qf God, we have the ninety-eighth psalm for varie- 
ty ; which, though made on occasion of some of David's 
victories, may yet be verj properly applied to our- 
selves, who, being God's adopted children, are a spirit- 
ual Israel^ and therefore have all imaginable reason lo 
bless God for the same, and to call upon the whole cre- 
ation to join with us in thanksgiving. This was one of 
those which, I have already observed, was first added 
to King Edward's second Common Prayer. 

Sect. XI IL Of the, Hymns after the second Lessons, 

jjjj^^^P_ Having expressed our thankfulness to God in one 
ter these- of the above-mentioned Hymns for the light and in- 
cond Les- struction we have received from the first Lesson ; we 
*°^^* are fitly disposed to hear the clearer revelations exhib- 

ited to us in the second. 
Of the Be- ^* ^^ ^^ ^^^ second Lesson in the Morning, it is alwa3^s 
nedictus, taken out either of the Gospels or the Acts ; which Con- 
or Son? of tain an historical account of the great work of our redemp- 
Zacbarms. ^-^^^ . ^^^^ therefore as the angel, that first published the 
clad tidings of salvation, was joined by a multitude 
of the heavenly host, who all brake forth in praises to 
God ; so when the same tidings are rehearsed by the 
Priest, both he and the people immediately join their 
mutual gratulations, praising God, and saying, Blessed 
be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeem- 
ed his people ; and has raised up a mightij sahation for us 

done to remove as far as possible the objections raade by DJFsenters 
to the English service, one of which was that the Hymn of the Vir- 
gin is unsiiilable to the purposes of public worship. The same rea- 
son probiibly occasioned the nisertion of the 103d psalm insfead of the 
JVitnc Dtmitds^ or fon? of Simeon, after the eecond lesson in the 
Dvening fiervice. — Am. Ed. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 1^3 

inthehouseof his servant David, ^c, being the Hymn Sect^XilT 

that was composed by good old ZachariaS, at the cir 

cumcision of his vson, St. John the 13aptist^^ containing 

a thanksgiving to God for the incarnation of our Saviour, 

and for those unspeakable mercies, whicii (though they 

were not then fully completed) were quickly afterwards 

the subject of the whole Church's praises. Of the 

II. For variety the hundredth Psalm was also ap- hundredth 
pointed by King Edward's second book, in which all Psalm. 
lands and nations are invited and called upon to serve 

the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a 
songj for his exceeding grace, mercy, and truth, which 
are so eminently set forth in the Gospels. 

III. After the second Lesson at Evening, which is al- Of«he 
ways out of the Epistles, the Song of Simeon, called ^^^^^ 
Nunc Dimittis, is most commonly used. The author 

of it is supposed to have been he v/hom the Jews call 
Simeon the Just, son to the famous Rabbi HilleP, a 
man of eminent integrity, and one who opposed the 
then common opinion of the Messiah's temporal king- 
dom. The occasion of his composing it, was his meet- 
ing Christ in the Temple when he came to be presented 
there, wherein God fulfilled his promise to him, that he 
should not die till he had seen the Lord's Christ *^ 

And though we cannot sec our Saviour with our bodi- 
ly eyes, as he did, yet he is by the writings of the Apos- 
tles daily presented to the eyes of our faith : and there- 
fore if we were much concerned for heaven, and as 
loose from the love of the world as old Simeon was, and 
we ought to be ; we might, upon the view of Christ in 
his holy word, be daily ready to sing this Hymn, which 
is taken into the services of all Christian churches in the , 

world, Greek, Roman, and Reformed, and was formerly 
very frequently sung by Saints and Martyrs a little be- 
fore their deaths. 

IV. Instead of it sometimes the sixty-seventh Psalm is P^^^^^^f" 
used, (being one of those that was introduced in King ^^SmT 
Edward's second Liturgy,) which being a prayer of 

David for the coming of the Gospel, is a proper form 
wherein to express our desires for the farther propaga- 
tion of it. 

N. B. It ought to be noted, that both the sixty-seventh 
and hundreth Psalms, being inserted in the Common 

53 Luke i. 5T. Harmony on the place. 

54 Vid. Scultet. Exercitat. Ev- 55 Lujse ii. 26. 
ang.l. 1. c. 61. and Ligblfoot's 

T 



154 Of the Order 

Chapel. Prayer Books in the ordinary version, ought so to be 
~ used, and not to be sung in Sternhold and Hopkins, or 
any other metre, as is now the custom in too many 
churches, to the jostling out of the Psalms themselves, 
expressly contrary to the design of the rubric: which, 
if not prevented, may in time make way for farther in- 
novations and gross irregularities. 

Sect. XIV. Of the Apostles' Creed. 

TheCreed. 1 HOUGH the Scriptures be a perfect revelation of 
all divine truths necessary to salvation ; yet the funda- 
mental articles of our faith are so dispersed there, that 
it was thought necessary to collect out of those sacred 
writings one plain and short summary of fundamental 
doctrines, which might easily be understood and re- 
membered by all Christians. 

§. 2. This summary, from the first word in Latin 

Why so Oredo, is commonly called the Creed ; though in Latin 

Wb! call- ^^ ^^ called Symholum^ for which several reasons are 

ed Symbo- given ; as, first, that it is an allusion to the custom of 

luca. several persons meeting together to eat of one common 

supper, whither every one brings something for his 

share to make up that common meal, which from hence 

was called Symbolum, from the Greek word o-vf^€ei?^eivj 

which signifies to throw or cast together : even so, say 

some^^, the Aposdes met together, and each one put or 

threw in his article to compose this Symbol. 

Another signification of the word is fetched from mili- 
tary affairs, where it is used to denote those marks, 
signs, or watch-words, &:c. whereby the soldiers of an 
army distinguished and knew each other : in like man- 
ner, as some think^^, by this Creed the true soldiers of 
Jesus Christ were distinguised from all others, and dis- 
cerned from those who were only false and hypocriti- 
cal pretenders. 

But the most natural signification of the word seems 
to be derived from the Pagan Symbols, which were 
secret marks, words, or tokens communicated at the 
time of initiation, or a litde before, unto those who 
were consecrated or entered into their reserved or 
hidden rites, and to none else; by the declaration, 

56 Ruffin. Expos, in Sjmb. A- 57 Rnffin.ut supra.Maxim.Tau- 

post ad calcem Cyprian. Open. p. rinens Homil. in Symbol, ap. Bib- 

17. Cassian. de Incarn. Dom 1. 6. lioth. Vet. Patr. Colon. Agrippin. 

c. 3. pag. 1046. Atrebat. 1628. 1618. torn. v. pag. 39. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 155 

manifestation, or pronunciation whereof, those more Sect. XIV. 
devout idolaters knew each other, and were with all 
freedom and liberty of access admitted to their more in- 
timate mysteries, i, e. to the secret worship and rites of 
that god, whose symbols they had received 5 from 
whence the multitude in general were kept out and ex- 
cluded ; which said symbols those who had received 
them, were obliged carefully to conceal, and not, on 
any account whatsoever, to divulge or reveaP^. -And for 
the same reasons the Apostles' Creed is thought by 
some to have been termed a Symbol, because it was 
studiously concealed from the Pa^an world, and not 
revealed to the Catechumens themselves, till just before 
their Baptism or initiation in the Christian mysteries : 
when it was delivered to them as that secret note, mark, 
or token, by which the faithful in all parts of the world 
might without any danger, make thetiiselves known to 
one another ^^. 

§. 3. That the whole Creed, as we now use it, was '^^^ ^^^[^ 
drawn up by the Apostles themselves, can hardly be 
proved : but that the greatest part of it was derived 
from the very days of the Apostles, is evident from the. 
testimonies of the most ancient writers^® : particularly 
of St. Ignatius, in whose Epistles most of its articles are 
to be found : though there are some reasons to believe, 
that some few of them, viz that of the descent into hell, 
the communion of saints, and the life everlasting, were not 
added till some time after, in opposition to some gross 
errors and heresies that sprang up in the church. But 
the whole form, as it now stands in our Liturgy, is to be 
found in the works of St. Ambrose and Ruffinus*^ 

§. 4. It is true indeed the primitive Christians, by J^^jt^^]^"* 
reason they always concealed this and their other mys- publicly, 
teries, did not in their assemblies publicly recite the 
Creed, except at times of Baptism ; which, unless in 
cases of necessity, were only at Easter and Whitsuntide. 
From whence it came to pass, that the constant re- 
peating of the Creed in the Church was not introduced 
till five hundred years after Christ; about which time 
Petrus GnapheruSjBishop of Antioch,prescribed the con- 

58 See iastances of these Sym- 60 Vid. IrenaeumjContr.Haeres. 
bols in the Lord Chief Justice 1. 1. c. 2. p. 44. TertuU. de Virg. 
King's Critical History of the veland. c. 1. p. 175. A. De Prae- 
Creed, chap. 1. p. 11, &c. script. Haereticor. c. 13. p.206.D, 

59 See this proved b^ the s^me ^1 la their Expositions upon it, 
author, p. 20, &c. 



156 Oflhe OnUr 

Chap. III. slant recital of the Creed, at the public administration 

^- — * of divine service^^. 
The place §. 5. The place of it in our Liturgy may be consid- 
er the ered with respect both to what goes before, and what 
the^Litur. comes after it. That which goes before it, are the Les- 
gy. sons taken out of the word of God : (or faith comes hy 

hearing^^ ', and therefore when we have heard God's 
word, it is fit we should profess our belief of it, thereby 
setting our seals (as it Avere) to the truth of God^\ especial- 
ly to such articles as the chapters now read to us have 
confirmed. What follows the Creed are the Prayers 
which are grounded upon it : for wx cannot call upon 
him^ in whom we have not believecl^^. And therefore since 
we are to pray to God the Father, in the name of the 
Son, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, for remission 
of sins, and a joyful resurrection ,* we first declare that 
we believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and 
that there is remission here, and a resurrection to life 
hereafter, for all true members of the Catholic Church : 
and then we may be said to pray in faith.* 

62 Theodor. Lector. Histor.Ec- 64 John iii. 33. 
cles. p. 363. C. 65 Rom. x. 14. 

63 Rom. X. 17. 

* The word Catholic applied to the Church, means universal, ex- 
tending to all mankind. The Jewish church was not universal, but 
particular, for it consisted of but one nation ; the Christian, consists 
*' of every kindred, tongue and people." Rev. v. 9. The Jewish 
Church had sacrifices only in one temple ; the Christian, " offers unto 
the name of God in every place from the rising of the sun unto the 
going down of the same, incense and a pure offering," Mai. i. 11. The 
Jewish Church had a law, all the precepts of which could not be ob- 
served in any country but Judea ; the Christian, a faith productive 
of good works, Catholic or Universal, originally delivered by the Apos- 
tles and received by all who professed and called themselves Christians. 
*' Every Church or Society of Christians.'' says Abp. Seeker, *' that 
preserves this C:itholic or Universal faith, accompanied with true 
charity, is a part of the Catholic or Universal Church: and because 
the parts are of the same nature with the whole, it hath been usual 
to call every church sing-ly, which is sg qualified, a Catholic church. 
And ia this sense, churches that diflTer widely in several notions and 
customs, may, notwithstanding, each of them, be truly Catholic 
Churches. But the church of Rome, which is one of the most corrupted 
parts oflhe Catholic church, both in faith and love, hath presumed 
to call itself the whole Catholic church, the Universal church ; which it 
lio more is, than one diseased limb, though perhaps the larger for be- 
ing diseased, is the whole body of a man. And by attempting to ex- 
clude us, they take the direct way to exclude t[>em?elvfs, unless God 
impute their uncharitable way of thinking and acting, as we hope he 
will to excusable ignorance and mistake. The Church of England pre- 
tends not indeed absurdly to be the whole Catholic church, but is un 
doubtedly a sound and excellent member of it. So that we have 
much better ground to call ourselves Catholics than they; were such 
names worth disputing about, which they are not ; only one would 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. Ib7 

§. 6. Both Minister and People are appointed to re- Sect. XIV. 
peat this Creed ; because it is the profession of every 
person present, and ought for that reason to be made ^°2teVb"v 
by everyone in his own person ; the more expressly to xhe whole 
declare their belief of it to each other, and consequently congrega- 
to the whole Christian world, with whom they maintain *'°°- 
communion. 

§. 7. it is to be repeated standing, to signify our res- Standing-, 
olution to stand up stoutly in the defence of it. And in 
Poland and Lithuania the nobles used formerly to draw 
their swords, in token that, if need w^ere, they would 
defend and seal the truth of it with their blood^*. 

§. 8. When we repeat it, it is customary to turn to- JJj^^ ^^J^^"" 
wards the East, that so whilst we are making profession wards the 
of our faith in the blessed Trinity, we may look towards East, 
that quarter of the heavens, where God is supposed to 
have his peculiar residence of glory^^. 

§. 9. When we come to the second article in this Reverence 
Creed, in which the name of Jesus is mentioned, the g° ^^^^ 
whole congregation makes obeisance, which the Church name of 
(in regard to that passage of St. Paul, T/iaf at the name Jicsus. 
o/* Jesus every knee should bow^'^) expressly enjoins in her 
eighteenth canon : ordering, that zvhen in time of divine 
service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and lowly 
reverence shall be done by all persons present, as it has been 
accustomed ; testifying by these outward ceremonies and 
gestures their inward humility, Christian resolution, and due 
acknowledgment, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true eier<- 
nal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world, in whom 
<ilone all the mercies, graces, and promises of God to man- 
kind for this life, and the life to come, are fully and wholly 
^comprised.* 

66 See Durell's Vie*r, &c. Sec. 67 See Mr. Gregory, as quoted 

1. \. 24. page 37. in note 61, in page 89. 

68 Phil. ii. 10. 

not flatter and harden them, by giving them a title, which they both 
claim unjustly, and turn into an argument against us." — Secker''s 
lectures, ]ect. 14. What is here said of the Church of England may 
be said with equal propriety of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, and 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, which agree with the 
Church of England in all the esfcentials of Faith and practice. 

Am. Ed. 

* The practice of bowing at the name of Jesus is not enjoined in 
the American Episcopal Church, but it deserves to be considered 
whether it ought to be dispensed with at a time when such efforts are 
made by the adversaries of our faith to degrade the character of our 
blessed Saviour. Am. Ed. 



158 Of the Order 

Chap. HI. Sect. XV. Of St. Athanasius's Creed* 

c!tslA\ha- Whether this Creed was composed by Athana- 
nasiu?. sius or not, is matter of dispute : in the rubric before it, 
as enlarged at the review, it is only said to be commonly 
called the Creed of St. Athanasius : but we are certain 
that it has been received as a treasure of inestimable 
price both by the Greek and Latin churches for almost 
a thousand years. 
The scru- §. 2. As to the matter of it, it condemns all ancient 
pie which and modern heresies, and is the sum of all orthodox di^ 
Snstlt^ vinity. And therefore if any scruple at the denying 
Salvation to such as do not believe these articles; let 
them remember, that such as hold any of those funda- 
mental heresies are condemned in Scripture^^ ; from 
whence it was a primitive custom, after a confession of 
the orthodox faith, to pass an anathema against all that 
denied it. But however, for the ease and satisfaction of 
some people who have a notion that this Creed requires 
every person to assent to, or believe, every verse in it on 
pain of damnation ; and who therefore (because there 
are several things in it which they cannot comprehend) 
scruple to repeat it for fear they should anathematize 
or condemn themselves ; I desire to offer what follows 
to their consideration, viz. That howsoever plain and 
agreeable to reason every verse in this Creed may be ; 
yet we are not required, by the words of the Creed, to 
believe the whole on pain of damnation. For all that 
is required of us as necessary to salvation, is, that before 
all things we hold the Catholic Faith : and the Catholic Faith 
is by the third and fourth verses explained to be this, 
that we worship one God in Trinity^ and Trinity in Unity : 
neither confounding the persons or dividing the substance. 
This therefore is declared necessary to be belived : but 
all that follows from hence to the twenty-sixth verse, is 
only brought as a proof and illustration of it ; and 
therefore requires our assent no more than a sermon 

69 1 John ii. 22, 23- v. 10. 2 Peter, ii. 1. 

* The creed commonly called Athanasian is of Latin origin as the 
Benedictine Editors of the works of St, Athanasius have very satisfac- 
torily shown. Many of the soundest and best divines of the Church of 
England, have lamented that this creed is enjoined as a part of the 
public Liturgy of their church; and the American Episcopal Church 
has, it is thought by many acted judiciously in omitting it. At all 
Rvents, the defence of the English practice contained in this section 
n not peculiarly interesting to us. "^wi. Ed. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. 1 59 

does, which is made to prove or illustrate a text. The Sect. XVI. 

text, we know, is the word of God, and therefore neces- 

sary to be believed : but no person is, for that reason, 
bound to believe every particular of the sermon de- 
duced from it, upon pain of damnation, though every 
tittle of it may be true. The same I take it to be in this 
Creed: the beliefof the Cfl//io/2ci^ai//t before mentioned, 
the Scripture makes necessary to salvation, and there- 
fore we must believe it : but there is no such necessity 
laid upon us to believe the illustration that is there giv- 
en of it, nor does the Creed itself require it : for it goes 
on in the twenty-sixth and tvventy-seventh verses in these 
words. So that in all things as is aforesaid, the Unity in 
Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped : he 
iherejore thai will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. 
Where it plainly passes off from that illustration, and 
returns back to the fourth and fifth verses, requiring 
only our belief of the Catholic Faith, as there expressed, 
as necessary to salvation, viz. that One God or Unity in 
Trinity^or Trinity in Unity is to he worshipped. All the 
rest of the Creed, from the twenty-seventh verse to the 
end, relates to our Saviour's Incarnation ; which indeed 
is another essential part of our faith, and as necessary 
to be believed as the former : but that being expressed 
in such plain terms as none, I suppose, scruple, 1 need 
not enlarge any farther. 

§. 3. The reasons why this Creed is appointed to be Why said 
said upon those days specified in the rubric, are, be- «" those 
cause some of them are more proper for this Confession tione™^„" 
of Faith, which, being of all others the most express con- the rubric. 
Icerning the Trinity, is for that reason appointed on 
Christmas-day f Epiphany , Easter-day^ Ascension-day, Whit- 
Sunday, and Trinity-Sunday; which were all the days that 
were appointed for it by the first book of King Edward : 
but in his second book it was also enjoined on Saint 
Matthias, and some other Saints-days, that so it might be 
repeated once in every month. 

Sect. XVf. Of the Versicles before the Lord''s Prayer. 

J. HE congregation having now their consciences ab- The good 
solved from sin, their affections warmed with thanks- o^^*;^ ^^^ 
giving, their understandings enlightened by the word, ™^j. ^^^^^ 
and their faith strengthened by a public profession ; vice, 
enter solemnly in the next place upon the remaining 
part of divine worship, viz. Supplication and Prayer. 



160 Of the Order 

Chap. III. that is, to ask those things which are requisite and ntcessmyy 
"T "T " as well for the body as the soul. 

Lord be §* ^' ^"^ because they are not able to do this without 
with jou. foci's help ; therefore the minister first blesses them 
with The Lord be with you ; which, it must be observed 
too, is a very proper salutation in this place, viz^ after 
a public and solemn profession of their faith. For St. 
John forbids us to say to any heretic, God Speed'^^ ; and 
the primitive Christians were never allowed to salute 
any that were excommunicated". But when the min- 
ister hath heard the whole congregation rehearse the 
Creed, and seen, by their standing up at it, a testimony 
of their assent to it; he can now salute them as breth- 
ren and members of the church. But because he is 
their representative and mouth to God, they return his 
Ans. And salutation, immediately replying, And with thy spirit : 
Toirh '^^ both which sentences are taken out of holy Scripture^^ 
'* ' and together with that salutation, Peace be with you, 
(which was generally used by the Bishop, instead of 
The Lord be with you"^^,) have been of very early uie in 
the Church^ especially in the Eastern part of it, to 
w' hich, as an ancient council says^^, they were deliver- 
ed down by the Apostles themselves : and it is observa- 
ble that they always denoted (as here) a transition from 
one part of the divine service to another. 
Pr. Let us §. 3. Jn the heathen sacrifices there was always one 
P"*^^' to cry, Hoc agiie, or to bid them mind what they were 
about. And in all the old Christian Liturgies the dea- 
con was wont to call often upon the people, Uremg ha^Z- 
fA.£v, Let us pray earnestly ; and then again, iKTtvirspov, more 
earnestly. And the same vehemence and earnest de- 
votion does our Church call for in these words. Let us 
pray; warning us thereby to lay aside all wandering 
thoughts, and to attend to the great work we are about : 
for though the minister only speaks most of the words, 
yet our affections must go along with every petition, and 
sign them all at last with an hearty Amen. 
Pr. Lord §. 4. But being unclean like the lepers recorded by 
have mer- g^ Lu^g'*, before we come to address ourselves to God, 



cy upon U3 



70 2 John 10, 11. 74 ChrjP. in Coloss. 1 Horn. 3. 

71 Capital, Carol. Mag. 1. 5. c. torn. 4. p. 107. lin. 3, &c. Isid.Pe- 
42. lus. 1. 1. Ep. 122. p. 44. A. 

72 Ruth ii. 4. Thessal. ill. 16, 75 Conci). Bracar. 2. cap. 3. 
2 Tim. iv. 22. Gal. vi. 18. torn. v. col. 740. B. 

73 Durand. Rational. lib. 4. c. 76 Luke xvii. 12, IS 

U. ^7. foi. in. 



for Morning and Evening Prayet, \&i 

we begin to cry, Lord have mercy on us ; lest, if we Sect. XVf. 

should unworthily call him Our Father, he upbraic] us • 

as he did the Jews^If Ibe a father, where is mine honour'''' ? 

And it is to be observed, that the Church hath such an 

awful reverence for the Lord's Prayer, that she seldom 

suffers it to be used without some preceding preparation. 

In the beginning of the Morning and Evening Service, 

we are prepared by the Confess,ion of our Sins, and the 

Absolution of the Priest ; and very commonly in other 

places by this short Litany : whereby we are taught 

first to bewail our unvvorthiness, and pray for mercy ; 

and then with an humble boldness to look up to heaven, 

and call God Our Father, and beg farther blessings of 

him. 

As to the original of this form, it is taken out of the 
Psalms^^, where it is sometimes repeated twice together ; 
to which the Christian Church hath added a third, viz. 
Christ have mercy upon us, that so it might be a short 
Litany or Supplication to every person in the blessed 
Trinity: we have offended each person, and are to 
pray to each, and therefore we beg help from them alh 

It is of great antiquity both in the Eastern and Wes- 
tern churches ; and an old council orders it to be used 
three times a da}'- in the public service^^ And we are 
informed that Constantinople was delivered from an ^ 
earthquake, by the people's going barefoot in process- 
ion, and using this short Litany^''. 

N. B. The Clerk and the People are here to take The Clerk 
notice not to repeat the last of these versicles, viz. Lord and people 

, r . . ^ not to re- 

nave mercy upon us, alter the mmister. In the end oi pg^t Lord 
the Litany indeed they ought to do it, because there have mer- 
they are directed to say all the three versicles distinct- ^y "^P^J^ ^* 
ly after him ; each of them being repeated in the Com- Minister, 
mon Prayer Book, viz, first in a Roman Letteh for the 
priest, and then in an Italic, which denotes the people's 
response. But in the daily Morning and Evening Ser- 
vice, in the office for Solemnization of Matrimony, in 
those for the Visitation of the Sick, for the Burial of the 
Dead, for the Churching of Women, and in the Com- 
mination, where these versicles are single, and only the 
second printed in an Italic character, there they are to 
be repeated alternately, and not by way of repetition : 

77 Mai. i. 6. 79 Concil. Vasens. 2. Can. 3. 

78 Psalm vi. 2. 11. 1. cxxiii. 3. tom. iv. col. 1680. C. 

80 Paul. Diacon. I. 16. c. 24. 

u 



162 



Oflhe Order 



ig 



Chap. III. sQ ttjai- n^^j^e but the second versicle, viz. Christ have 
' mercy upon us, comes to the people's turn, the first and last 

belonging to the minister. 



TheLord's 
Prayer, 
why re- 
peated. 



Clerks, 
who in- 
tended 
by them. 



The Ver- 

sicles. 



Sect. XVII. Of the Lord's Prayer. 

LHE Minister. Clerk, and People, being prepared in the 
manner that we have described above, are now again to 
say the Lord's Prayer, zdith a loud voice. For this conse- 
crates and makes way for all the rest, and is therefore 
now again repeated. By which repetition we have this 
farther advantage, that if we did not put up any petition 
of it with fervency enough before, we may make amends 
for it now, by asking that with a doubled earnestness. 

§. 2. By the Clerks in this rubric (which was first in- 
serted in the second book of King Edward) I suppose 
were meant such persons as were appointed at the be- 
ginning of the Reformation, to attend the Incumbent in 
his performance of the offices ; and such as are still in 
some cathedral and collegiate churches, which have Lay- 
Clerks (as they are called, being not always ordained) 
to look out the Lessons, name the Anthem, set the 
Psalms, and the like^^ : of which sort I take our Parish 
Clerks to be, though we have now seldom more than 
one to a church. 

Sect. XVI II. Of the Versicles after the Lord'^s Prayer. 

Before the minister begins to pray alone for the 
people, they are to join with him (according to the pri- 
mitive way of praying) in some short Versicles and Re- 
sponsals taken chiefly out of the Psalms, and containing 
the sum of all the following Collects. 

To the first, O Lord, shoio thy mercy upon us, — and 
grant us thy sahation^^, answers the Sunday Collect, 
which generally contains petitions for mercy and salva- 
tion. To the second, Lord, save the King, — and mer- 
cifully hear us when we call upon thee^^, answer the pray- 
ers for the King and Royal Family. To the third. En- 
due thy Ministers with righteousness, — and make thy chosen 
people, joyful ^* ; and the fourth, Lord, save thy people, — 
and bless thine inheritance^^ ; answers the collects for the 



81 See the Clergyman's Vade 
Mectim, page 202, 2U3. 

82 Psalm Jxxxv. 7. 

83 Psalm xx. verse the last, ac- 



cording to the Greek translation. 

84 Psalm cxxxii. 9. 

85 Psalm xxviii. 9. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 163 

Clergy and People. To the fifth, Give peace in our time, Sect. XIX. 
O Lord, — because there is none other that fighteth for us, 
but only thou, O God^^, answer the daily collects for 
Peace : and to the last, O God, make clean our hearts with- 
in us, — and take not thy holy Spirit from us^"^, answer the 
daily collects for Grace.* 

6. 2. Against two of these versicles it is objected, that 4" ^^i^^' 
the Cnurcn enjoins us to pray to (jroci to give peace m our gyyered. 
time, for this odd reason, viz. because there is none other 
that fighteth for us hut only God. But to this we answer, 
that the Church by these words does by no means im- 
ply, that the only reason of our desiring" peace, is be- 
cause we have none other to fight for us, save God alone ; 
as if we could be well enough content to be engaged in 
war, had we any other to fight for us, besides God ; but 
they are a more full declaration and acknowledgment 
of that forlorn condition we are in, who are not able to 
help ourseJves, and who cannot depend upon man for 
help ; which we confess and lay before Almighty God, 
to excite the greater compassion in his divine Majesty. 
And thus the Psalmist cries out to God, Be not far from 
me, for trouble is near ; for there is none to help^^, 

§. 3. The rubric which orders the priest to stand up to -vvhy the 
say these versicles,(which was first added in 155 2,) I ima- minister is 
gine to have been founded upon the practice of the priests to stand 
in the Romish Church. For it is a custom there for the "P ^y^^ese 
priest, at all the long prayers to kneel before the altar, 
and mutter them over softly by himself; but whenever 
he comes to any versicles where the people are to make 
their responses, he rises up and turns himself to them, 
in order to be heard: which custom the compilers of 
our Liturgy might probably have in their eye, when 
they ordered the minister to stand up in this place. 

Sect. XIX. Of the Collects and Prayers in general. 

Before we come to speak of e^ch of the following The pray- 
Prayers in particular, it may not b^ amiss to observe ers whydi- 
one thing concerning them in general, viz. the reason ^ided into 
why they are not carried on in one continued discourse, f^o^^^Joj, 

lects. 

86 1 Chron. xxii. 9. g8 Psalm xxii. 11. 

87 Psalm li. 10, 11. 

* The first and last only of these versicles and responsals being re- 
tained in the American Liturgy, the objections to the fifth in the 
jpnglish, are of course obviated. Am, Ed. 



164 Of the Order 

Chap. Ill i^ut divided into many short Collects, such as is that 

~" which our Lord himself composed. And that might be 

one reason why our Church so ordered it, viz, that so 
she might follow the example of our Lord, who best 
knew what kind of Prayers were fittest ifor us to use. 
And indeed we cannot but find, by our own experience, 
how difficult it is to keep our minds long intent upon any 
thing, much more upon so great things as the object and 
subject of our prayers; and that, do what we can, we 
are still liable to wanderings and distractions : so that 
there is a kind of necessity to break off sometimes, that 
bur thoughts, l^ing respited for awhile, may with more 
ease be fixed again, as it is necessary they should, so 
long as we are actually praying to the supreme Being 
of the world. 

But besides, in order to the performing our devotions 
aright to the most high God, it is necessary that our 
souls should be possessed all along with due apprehen- 
sions of his greatness and glory. To which purpose 
our short prayers contribute very much. For every 
one of them beginning with some of the attributes or 
perfections of God, and so suggesting to us right appre- 
hensions of him at first; it is easj^ to preserve them in 
bur minds during the space of a short Prayer, which in 
^ long one would be too apt to scatter and vanish away* 
But one of the principal reasons why our public de- 
votions are and should be divided into short Collects, is 
this : our blessed Saviour, we know, hath often told \is, 
that whatsoever we ask the Father in his name^ he will give 
it us^^; and so hath directed us in all our Prayers to 
make use of his name, and to ask nothing but upon the 
account of his Merit and Mediation for us : upon which 
all our hopes and expectations from God do wholly de- 
pend. For this reason therefore (as it always was, so 
also now) it cannot but be judged necessary, that the 
Name of Christ be frequently inserted in our prayers, 
that so we may lift up our hearts unto him, and rest our 
faith upon him, for the obtaining those good things we 
pray for. And therefore whatsoever' it be which we 
ask of God, we presently add, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord^ or something to that effect ; and so ask nothing 
"but arcordmg to our Lord's direction, i, e, in his name. 
And this is the reason that makes our prayers so short : 
for take away the conclusion of every Collect or Pi-ay ei*, 
and they may be joined all together, and be made but 
as one continued Prayer. But would not this tend to 

89 John xiv. 13. and xvi. 2i. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 105 • 

make us forg^iful that we are to offer up our Prayers Sect. XX. 
in the name of Christ, by taking away that which re- 
fresheth our memory ? 

§. 2. The reason why these Prayers are so often Why call- 
called Collects, is differently represented.* Some ritu- ^^ <^oJ- 
alists think, because the word Collect is sometimes used ^^^^^' 
both in the vulgar Latin Bible^°, and by the ancient 
P'athers^^, to denote the gathering together of the peo- 
ple into religious assemblies ; that therefore the Pray- 
ers are called Collects, as being repeated when the peo- 
ple are coilected^^ together. Others think they are so 
named upon account of their comprehensive brevity ; 
the minister collecting into short forms the petitions of 
the people, which had before been divided between him 
and them by versicles and responses^^: and for this 
reason God is desired in some of them to hear the Prayers 
and Supplications of the People. Though I think it is very 
probable that the Collect s for the Sundays and Holy-days 
bear that name upon account that a great many of them 
are very evidently collected out of the Epistles and 
Gospels. 

Sect. XX. Of the (hret Collects at Morning and 
Evening Prayer, 

The next thing to be taken notice of is the rubric Uhe Ru- 
that follows the versicles after the Lord^s Prayer in the bnc after 
Morning Service, viz. t^r^"^ 

IT Then shall follow three Collects : the first of the Day, 
which shall be the same that is appointed at the Commun- 
ion ; the second for Peace ; the third for Grace to live 
well. And the two last Collects shall never alter, hut 
daily he said at Morning Prayer throughout all the year, 
as followeth ; all kneeling. 

there is much the same rubric in the Evening Ser- 
vice ; only whereas the third Collect for the Morning 
is intitled, /or grace to live well ; the title of that for the 
Evening is, /or aid against all perils. 

90 Dies Collect3e,Lev. xxiii.36. 92 A PopuliCollectione,Collec- 
Collectionem, Heb. x. 25. Ise appellari coeperunt. Alcuinus. 

91 Collect urn celebrare. Passim 93 Sacerdos omnium petionis 
apud Fatres. compendio«a brevitate colligit. 

Walafrid. Strabo. 

♦" Collect is a term of great Antiquity, having been mentioned by 
writers of the third century. Whatever was its original acceptation, it 
now signifies any short comprehensive prayer." — Shepherd. 



166 Of the Order 

Chap. III. J. The first of these Collects, viz. that of the day, 
~ which is ordered to be the same that is appointed at the 

lectsfor^ " C'ommitmon, will fall undej- my particular consideration, 
the day, when I come to treat of the several Sundays and Holy- 
days, which will naturally lead me to take notice of the 
several Collects thai belong to them. 
Of iheCol- ^'* '^^^^ second Collect,/or Peace, both for the Morn- 
lect for ing and Evening Service, are word for word, translated 
Peace. out of the Sacramentary of St. Gregory; each of them 
being suited to the office it is assigned to. In that which 
we use in the beginning of the day, when we are going 
to engage ourselves in various affairs, and to converse 
with the world, we pray for outward peace, and desire 
to be preserved from the injuries^ affronts, and wicked 
designs of men. But in that for the Evening we ask 
for inward tranquillity, requesting for that peace which 
the world cannot give, as springing only from the testi- 
mony of a good conscience; that so each of us may 
with David be enabled to say, / will lay me down in 
peace and take my rest ; having our hearts as easy as 
our heads, and our sleep sweet and quiet. 
OftheCol- III. The third Collects, both at Morning and Even- 
Ject? for j^g^ g^j.^ framed out of the Greek Euchologion. That in 
the Morning Service,/or grace, is very proper to be used 
in the beginning of the day, when we are probably go- 
ing to be exposed to various dangers and temptations. 
Nor is the other,ybr aid against all Perils, less seasona- 
-^"^^ J^! ble at night ; for being then in danger of the terrors of 
all p?rUs!^ darkness, vve by this form commend ourselves into the 
hands of that God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and 
with whom darkness and Yv^hi are both alike.* 



o 



Sect. XXI. Of the Anthem. 

Anthems. J^FTER the aforesaid Collects, as well at Morning 
Prayer as at Evening, the rubric orders, that m Choirs 
and in Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem^ 
The original of which is probably derived from the very 

* "That the greater part of the Collects retained in the book of Com- 
mon Prayer were the production of the Ancient fathers of the Church, 
js a consideration which to the pious christian will afford satisfaction 
and delight. In the Collects and Prayers of the Church, we offer up 
thoce consecrated devotions, which from the mouths and hearts of 
holy men, have from age to ag-e, ascended up like the incense to 
jieaven, and have been a more pleasing and acceptable sacrifice to the 
Almighty, than *' thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil.V 

Shepherd. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. f 67 

first Christians. For Pliny has recorded that it was the Sect.XXlL 

custom in his time to meet upon a fixed day before ; 7" 

light, and to sing a Hymn, in parts or hy turns^ to Christ, ^^^f^^"®" 
as God^'*: which expression can hardly have any other antiquity, 
sense put upon it, than that they sung in an antrphonical 
way. Socrates indeed attributes the rise of them to 
Saint Ignatius, who, when he had heard the angels in 
heaven singing and answering one another in Hymns 
to God, ordered that, in the Church of Antioch, Psalms of 
praise should be composed and set to music, and sung in 
parts by the choir in the time of divine service^^ ; which, 
from the manner of singing them, were called, 'Avrt(pavccy 
Anliphons^ or Anthems^ i, e. Hymns sung in parts, or by 
course. This practice was soon imitated by the whole 
Church, and has universally obtained ever since. 

§. 2. The reason of its being ordered in this place, why to be 
is partly perhaps for the relief of the congregation, who, sung here- 
if they have joined with due fervour in the foregoing 
parts of the office, may nov/ be thought to be something 
weary ; and partly, I suppose, to make a division in the 
service, the former part of it being performed in behalf 
of ourselves, and that which follows being mostly interces- 
sionaL 

§. 3. And therefore since it is now grown a custom, in This the 
a great many churches, to sing a Psalm in Metre in the Pj'f'pe'' 
middle of the service; I cannot see why it would not be fin^ino-^^ 
more proper here, than just after the second Lesson, psalms, 
where a Hymn is purposely provided by the Church 
to follow it. I have already showed the irregularity of 
singing theHymn itself m Metre: and to sing; a different 
Psalm between the Lesson and the Psalm appointed, is 
no less irregular. And therefore certainly this must be 
the most proper place for singing, (if there must be sing- 
ing, before the service is ended,) since it seems much 
more timely and conformable to the rubric, and more- 
over does honour to the Singing-Psalms themselves, by 
making them supply the place of Anthems. 

Sect. XXII. Of the Prayer for the King. 

WE have been hitherto only praying for ourselves ; ^p. 

but since we are commanded to pray for all men^% we er for the' 

now proceed, in obedience to that command, to pray king. 

94 Plin. Epist. J. 10. Ep, 97. p. 95 Socrat. Hist. Eccl.lib.G.cap. 

284. edit. Oxon. 1703. 8. p. 313 D. 

96 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. 



168 Of the Order 

Ghap. III. for the whole Church j and in the first place for the 
" '" King, whom, under Christ, we acknowledge to be the 

supreme Governor of this part of it to which we belong. 
And since the supreme King of all the world is God, by 
whom all mortal Kings reign ; and sinc6 his aiithorrty 
sets them up, and his power only can defend them ; 
therefore all mankind, as it were by common consent, 
have agreed to pray to God for their rulers. The 
Heathens offered sacrifices, prayers, and vows for their 
welfare : and the Jews (as we may see by the^^ Psalms) 
always made their prayers for the King a part of their 
public devotion. And all the ancient Fathers, Liturgies, 
and Councils fully evidence, that the same was done 
daily by Christians : and this not only for those that 
encouraged them, but even for such as opposed them, 
and were enemies to the faith. Afterwards indeed, when 
the Emperors became Christian, they particularly nam- 
ed them in their offices, with titles expressing the dear- 
est affection, and most honourable respect ; and prayed 
for them in as loyal and as hearty terms as are included 
in tfee prayer we are now speaking of: which is taken 
almost verbatim out of the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, 
but was not inserted in our Liturgy till the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth ; when our Reformers observing that, 
When first by the Liturgies of King Edward, the Queen could not 
"ervice.**"*^ be praj^ed for, but upon those days when either the Lit- 
any or Communion-Office was to be used, they found it 
necessary to add a form, to supply the defect of the 
daily service. 

'^PCT. XXiIL Of the Prayer for the Royal Family, 

The pray- T^HERE is as near an alliance between this and the 

er for the _* , , r i i 

Royal lormer prayer, as between the persons for whom they 
Family. are made. And we may observe that the Persian Em- 
peror Darius desired the Jewish priests to pray not only 
for the King, but his sons too ^ ; and the Romans prayed 
for the heirs of the Empire, as well as the Emperor him- 
self ^^ The primitive Christians prayed also for the 
Imperial Family^ ; and the canons of old councils both 
When aiM- 8t home and abroad enjoin the same^ . in our own 
ed to our Church indeed there was no mention made of the Roy- 
i.iturjfy, 

97 Psalm xx. and Ixxii. 2 Excerpt. Egberti, Can. 7. 

98 Ezra vi. 10. Spehu. torn. i. p. 259. Concil. 
^9 Tacit. Annal. 1 4. Rhemens. 2- Can. 4LI. lom.vif.col. 

1 LKur-. S.Bassll. 1285. C. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer. 1 6& 

ai P-niily till the reign of Kins^ James I. because after Sect.. 
the rpformalion no Protestant Prince had children till he XXIV. 



came to the throne. i3ut at his accession, this prayer ^ 

was immediately added; except that the begMininif of it, 
when it was first inserted, was, Almignly God which hast 
promised h> he a fatlio of thine elect and of their seed: but 
this, J sujposo, being thought to savour a little of Cal- 
vinism, ^\as altered about the year 1^32 or 33, when 
(Frederick !;!£ Prince Elector Palatine.^ the Lady Eliza^ 
beth^his wfe^ with their princely issm-^ being left out) these 
words were changed into Almighty God, the fountain of 
all goodness. 

Sect. XXIV. Of the Prayer for the Clergy and People, 

Having thus made our supplications for our tempo- The Prayer 
ral Governors, that under them we may have all clergy and 
those outward blessings which will make our lives com People, 
fortable here ; we proceed, in the next place, to pray 
for our spiritual Guides, that with them we may receive 
all those graces and inward blessings which will make 
our souls happy hereafter. We are members of the 
Church as well as of the State, and therefore we must 
pray for the prosperity of both, since they mutually de- 
fend and support each other. That we might not want ^f'f",^''^* 
a form therefore suitable and good, this prayer vvas ad- ^ ^ * 
ded in Queen Elizabeth's Common Prayer Book, out of 
the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, in conformity to the 
practice of the ancient church, which always had pray- 
ers tor the Clergy and People^ . 

§. 2, And because to gather a church at first out of The mean- 
Infidels, and then to protect it continually from its ene- ing- of who 
mies, is an act of as great prnver, and a greater miracle (^^fj^e work- 
of love than to create the world ; therefore in the pre- laarvels^ 
face of this prayer we may pniperly address ourselves 
to God, as to him who alone workelli great marvels*; though 
it is not improbable that those words might be added 
with a view to the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost 
upon the twelve Apostlt-s on the day of Pentecost. 

•§. 3. By the word Cwra/es in this prayer, are meant Cnrafes; 

who they 

3 Syne9 Ep. :ir, p. 173, B. torn. -?. p. 229. (JoncII. Calchnth- ^*'- 
Excerpt. Egberti, Can. 8 Spelin, ens. Can. tu. toui. vi. col. 1816. A. 

♦ In the American Prayer Book in?(ead of the words *' who alone 
worketh great marvel?,^ have been substituted, "from whom rometh 
every good and perfect gift." Am Ed. 

w 

i" 



iro Of the Order 

Gbap. MI. all that are entrusted with the Cure or care of Souls, 
whether they he the Incumbents themselves, who from 
that Cure \rerc anciently called Curates ; or those 
whom we now more generally call so, from ast^isting 
Incumbents in their said Cure. 

The prayer 

ofStChry. Sect. XXV. Of the Prayer of SuChrysosiom, 

sostom. 

Where ancient Liturgies afforded proper Prayers, 
the compilers of ours rather chose to retain them than 
make new ones : and therefore as some are taken from 
the Western offices, so is this from the Eastern ; where 
it is daily used, with very littledifff rence, in the Liturgies 
both of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom ; the last of which 
was the undoubted author of it.* It is inserted indeed 
in the middle of their Liturgies ; but in ours, I think 
more properly, at the conclusinn. For it is fit, that, in 
the close of our prayers, we should first reflect on all 
thosegreat and necessary requests wehave made,and then 
not only renew our desires that God may grant them, but 
also stir up our hearts to hope he will, 1 o which end wc 
address ourselves in this prayer to the second Person m 
the glorious Trinity,our blessed Saviour,and remind him 
of the gracious promise he made to us when on earth, 
that where two or three are gathered together in his name^ 
he would be th-erein the midst of them* ; and therefore if 
we can but prevail with him to hear our desires andpeti- 
/lonj, we know that the power of his intercession with 
God is so great, that we need not doubt but we shall ob- 
tain them. But however, since it may happen that we 
may have asked some things which he may not think con- 
venient for us; we do not peremptorily desiie that he 
would give us all we have pra}ed for, but submit our 
prayeis to his heavenly will ; and only reques^t that he 
would fvlfil our desires and petitions as may be most expe^ 
dientfor us : begging nothing positive ly, but what we are 
sure we cannot be too impoitunate for. viz. m this world 
knowledge of his truth, and m the world to come life ever- 

*\{ !.• to be found in theLitnrcy of&t. Chrysostoro, under the 'itle 
of "prayer of the third Aijtipli(vii." Opera Ed. Mnnlfai;r. Tom. XII. 
p. 782. The Gr^'ek is the i^aine h? that in the Greek TrhU^lation of 
the liitnrgy, annexed to Field's edition of the Septuatint, excepting on- 
ly the two introductory words riafyTox/xTO'g S-ioc Almiphty Gon. It 
fcejins • ra.( K9tj/As k.t.x. T hou that hatt gneu us grace, &r. 

wJnt. Ed. 
4 Matt, xviii. 20. 



for Morning and Evening Prayer, 171 

lasting. This we may ask peremptorily,without fear of ar- Sect 

rogancc or presumption; and yet this is all we really stand '^ 

in need of. 

§. 2. Neither this nor the following benedictory prayer ^^J^^ ^"* 
is at the end of either the Morning or Evening Service, 
in any of the old Common Prayer Books : which all of 
them conclude with the third Collect. But the prayer oi 
St. Chrysostoai is at the end of the Litany, from the very 
first book of King Edward ; and the benedictory prayer 
from that of Queen Elizabeth ; and there also stood the 
prayers for the King, the Royal Family, for the Clergy 
and People, tid the last review. And 1 suppose, though 
not printed, they were always used, as now, at the con- 
clusion of the daily service. For after the third ('ollect, 
the Scotch Liturgy directs, that then shalljollow tht 
Prayer for the King^s Majesty^ with the rest of the Prayers 
At the end of the Litany^ to the Benediction, 



Sect. XXVI. 0/2 Cor. xiii. 14, 



3 Cor. xiii. 
14« 



The whole service being thus finished, the minister 
closes it with that benedictory prayer of St. Paul, with 
which he concludes most of his Epistles: a form of 
blessinej which the Holy Spirit seems, by the repeated use 
of it, to have delivered to the Church to be used instead 
of that old Jewish form, with which the priest under the 
Law dismissed the congregation* . The reason of its 
being changed was undoubtedly owing to the new reve- 
lation made of three Persons in the Godhead. For 
otherwise the Jews both worshipped and blessed, in the 
name of the same God as the Christians; only their de- NotaBleu 
votions had respect chiefly to the Unity of the Godhead, inj. 
whereas ours comprehend also the Trinity of Persons. 

§. 2. 1 must not forget to observe, that the fornn here 
used in our daily service is rather a Prayer than a Bless- 
ing; since there is no alteration either of person or pos- 
ture prescribed to the minister, but he is directed to pro- 
nounce It kmelingj and to include himself as well the peo* 
pie. 

S Numb. vi. 23, ^c. 



irS Of Ike Litany. 

Chap. IV. 



' CHAP. IV. 

OF THE LITANY. 

The Introduction. 

The signifi- After the Order for Morning and Evening PraytT 
cation of in our present Liturgy, as well as in all the old onc>. 
Lhan^'^ stands the Confession of our C'lristian Faith^ commonly 
called the Creed of Alhanasiiis^ , which hath airoadj hecn 
spoken to: and then yb//oioe//i the Litany or general Sup- 
plication to be sung or said after Morning Prayer^ vpon 
Sundays, Wednesday ^'^ and Fridays, and at all otiier times 
when it shall be commanded by the Ordinary. The word 
Litany, as it is explained by our present Liturc;}^, signifies 
a general Supplication ; and so it is used by the uiost an- 
cient Heathens, UI2. '^for an earnest supplication to the 
" gods made in time of adverse fortune^ ; and in the 
" same sense it is used in the Christian Church, -y/z. 
" for a supplication and common intercession to God, 
" when his wrath lies heavy upon us^ ." Such a kind 
of supplication was the fifty -first Psalm, which may be 
called David's Litany. Such was that Litany of God's 
appointing in Joelg , where, in a general assembly, the 
Priests were to weep between the Porch and the Altar, and 
to say, Sparc thy People, O Lord ; (in allujsion to which 
place, our Litany, retaining also the same words, is en- 
joined, by the Royal Injunctions still in force^*^, to be said 
Why sunff ^^ sung in the midst of the church, at a low^ desk before 
inthe midst the chancel door, anciently called ihe failed Siool^^.) And 
ofihti such was that Litany of our Saviour*^, which he thrice 
*^ ^^^ " repeated with strong crying and tear s^^. 
The anti- §* ^' ^^ ^^^^ the form in which they are now made,r?z. 
quitv of in short requests by the priests, to which the people all 
Liianiesin answcf- It appears to be very ancient; for St. Basil tells 
thisfoim. ' i^ -^ 

6 The words commonly called 9 JopI ii 17. 

the Creed of Athananus were 10 Injunctions of Edward VI. 

added =it the Rfstoration. and of Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 

7 UoKxa i'i KAi <r7r't)iSoev Xi^^'^f ^559. in Bishop Sparrow's Collect. 
«r«Tot< Airetviviv Horn i\. T *«Aac page 8, and 72. 

AiTatvtug TOKMrtc Miirtv <rv/u(f>^u<rct(r' 11 See a IVote of Bi?hop An- 

^ctt. Hesiud. Theog. drews, in Dr. Nichols's additional 

Q AiritviU J'i Wt7rat^AK\na-H TT^lt Notes page 22. col. 1. 
Qiov Kctt Ui^ia J'i ogy»v i7rt<fie,of^- 12 Luke xxii. 44. 

ivnv bymeon. Thetsai. Opusc. de 13 Heb. v. 7. 
Haeret . 



Of the Litany. 173 

us, that Litanies were read in the church ofNeocassarea, introduet; 
betwee^n Gregoiy Thaumaturgus's time and his own". "^ 

And St. Ambrose hath left a form of Litany, which bears 
his name, agreeing in many things with this of ours. For 
when niiracalous gifts began to cease, they wrote down 
several of those forms, which were the original of our 
modern office. 

§. 3. About the year 400 they began to be used in Pro- 
cession, the people walking bare-foot, and saying them 
with great devotion; by which means, it is said, several 
countries were delivered from great calamities'^ About 
the yeart:00, Gregory the Great, out of all the Litanies 
extant, composed that famous seven-fold Litany'^ by 
which Rome was delivered from a grievous mortality^''; 
which hath been a pattern to all the Western churches 
sincf ; and to whicli ours comes nearer than that in the 
present Roman Missal, wherein later Popes had put in the 
invocation of'saints, which our Reformers have justly ex- 
punged.* But here we must observe, that Litanies were 
of use before Processions, and remained when they were 
taken away. For those processional Litanies having oc- 
casioned" much scandal, it was decreed, "That the Lita- 
" nies should for the future only beused within the walls 
** of the church^' 5" and so they are used amongst us to 
this day. 

§. 4. In thf* Common Prayer Book of 1549. (i.e. in the Why said 
first book of King Edward) the Litany was placed be on Snn- 
tween the Communion Office, and the Office for Baptism, t'ay^^ed- 
with this single title. The Letany^^ and Suffrages, and and FrV 
without any rubric either belbre or after it. But at the days. 

14 BaaU. Ep. 63. ad Neocsesar. Women, next the Widowp, last of 

16 Vid. Niceph. Hist. 1. 14. c. all the Poor and the Chi'dren. 

3. torn a. ii. p. 443. A. Vide Greg. lib. 11 Ep. 2. and 

16 It was called Litania Septi' Strabo de Offic Eccles. c. 28. 

formis. or the seven-fold Litanj, 17 Paid. Diac. lib. 18. et Bal- 

because he ordered the Church to aeus in Vit. Greo:. ^ 

make their Procession in seven 18 Concil. Coloniens. 

classes : ^^iz, first the Cler^j, then 19 So the word was spelt in all 

the Lavmen, next the Monks, af- the old Common Prayer Books. 

ter the Virgins, then the married 

*The Litany of our church is not quite the same with any other ; 
but differs very little from those of the Lutherans in Germany and 
Denmark. It is longer than the Greek ; but shorter than the Roman, 
which is half filled up with the nam«s of Saints invoked ; whertas we 
invoke, fir?t the three persons of the Holy Trinity separately and 
jointly ; then in a more particular manner our Redeemer and Medi- 
ator, '' to whom all power is given in heavjjn and earth," Matt, xxviii. 
31. Abp. Sxcksr. 



174 Oftht Lxlany, 

C3iap, IV. end of the Communion Office the rubric began thus j 
Upon fVednesdays and Fridays the English Litany shall be 
said or sung in all places^ after such form as is appointed by 
the King^s Majesty'' s Injunctions : or as it shall be otherwise 
appointed by nts Highness > What this form was I shall 
mention presently from the Injunctions themselves : but 
first I must observe, that Wednesdays and Fridays are 
here only mentioned, which were the ancient Fasting- 
days of the primitive church^ : the death of Christ be- 
ing designed on Wednesday, when he was sold by Judas, 
and accomplished on the Friday, when he died on the 
Cross". As to Sunday, I find no direction relating to it ; 
though I conclude from two other rubrics, which dispense 
with the use of it on some particular Sundays, that it was 
generally used on all the rest. For among the Notes of 
Explication at the end of thai book, the two last allovT 
that upon Christmas-day^ Easter-day^ the Ascension-day^ 
Whitsunday^ and the feast of Trinity^ may he used any part 
of holy Scripture^ hereafter tobe certainly limited and appoint- 
ed instead of the Litany, And that if there be a Strmou, 
or for other great cause^ the Curate by his discretion may 
have out the Litany, the Gloria in Excelsis, the Creed, the 
Homily, and the Exhortation to the Communion, But in the 
review of the Common Prayer in 15 j2, the Litany was 
placed where it stands at this time, with direction at the 
beginning that it should be used on Sundays, Wednesdays, 
and Fridays, and at other times when it shall be commanded 
by the Ordinary, And the order for Sunday has continu- 
ed ever since ; I suppose partly because there is then the 
greatest assembly to join in so important a supplication, 
and partly that no day might seem to have a more sol- 
emn office than the Lord's day. 
Whattime §.5. The particular ^imc o/*//ie Jflt/ when it isto be said 
of (he day geems now different from what it was formerly : in King 
uaed.**^ ^ Edward's and Queen Elizabeth's time, it seems it was 
used as preparatory to the second service. For by their 
Injunctions** it was ordered, that immediately before high 
Mass^ or the time of Communion of the Sacrament, the Priests 
with others of the Quire should kneel in the midst of the 
Church, and sing or say plainly and distinctly the Litany 
which is set for thin English, with all the Suffrages following. 
And even long afterwards it was a custom in several 

20 Clem. Alex. Strom. 7. c.744. Albaspinaeom, 1. i. Obs. 16, p. 
B.Tertul. de Jejim. c 2. p. 545. 35. col. 1. E. 

A. Epiphan. adv. Haeres. 1.3. torn 22 Sparrow^a Collections, p. 8, 

i. p. 9I(JB. 72. 

21 Petrus Alexandrinus, ap. 



Of the Litany. 173 

churches to toll a bell whilst the Litany was readings to IntroHace, 
give notice to the people that the Communion Service "~* 

was coming on**. And indeed till the last review in 1 661 
the Litany was designed to be a distinct service by itself, 
and to be used some time after the Morning Prayer was 
over; as may be gathered from the rubric before the 
Comrnination in all the oldCommon Prayer Books,which 
orders, that after Morning Prayer^ thr people being called to- 
gether by the ringing of a belU and assembled in the Church, 
tht English Litany shall be said after the accustomed manner. 
This custom, as I am informed, is still observed in some 
Cathedrals and Chapels*'* : though now, for the most part, 
it is made one office with the Morning Prayer ; it being 
ordered by the rubric before the Prayer for the King, 
lo be read after the third collect for Grace, instead of 
the intercessional prayers in the daily service. Which 
order seems to have been formed from the rubric before 
tiie Litany in the Scotch Common Prayer Book, which I 
have transcribed in the margin". And accordingly we 
find that, as the aforementioned rubric before the Com- 
mination Office is now altered, both the Morning Prayer 
and Litany are there supposed to be read at one and the 
same time. 

§. 6. By the fifteenth canon above-mentioned, when- ^°® ^J?* ^/ 
ever the Litany is read, every householder dwelling within fyto^^teTid 
half a mile of the church, is to come or send one at the least the Litany. 
of his household ft to join with the minister in prayers, 

§. 7, The Posture, which the minister is to use in saying Tke minis- 
the Litany, is not prescribed in any present rubric, ex- {^^J^^j 
cept that, as it is now a part of the Morning Service for 
the days above mentioned, it is included in the rubric at 
the end of the suffrages after the se^cond Lord's Prayer, 
which orders all to kneel in that place, after which there 
is no direction for standing. And the Injunctions of 
King Edward and Queen Elizabeth both appoint, that 
the Priests, with others of the Choir, shall kneel in the midst 
if the Church, and sing or say plainly and distinctly the 
Litany, which is set forth in English, with all the suffrages 

23 Heylin's Anlidot. Lincoln, at Morning Prayer, called the 
cap If. sect. ^. p. 59. collect for Grace* upon Sundays, 

24 A? at Worcester Cathedral Wednesdajs, and Fridays, and at 
and .VI erton College in Oxford, other times, when it shall be com- 
where Morninj; Prayer is read at manded by the Ordinary, and 
MX or seven and the Litany at ten. without the omission of any part 

25 Here followeth the Litany of the other daily service of the 
♦o be used affer the third collect church on those days. 



ne OftheLHany, 

Ghap. IV. following^ to the intent thepeoplemay hear and answer:, t^c.^t 
■ ^ As to the posture of the people, nothing need be said i^^ 
relation to that, because whenever the priest kneels, thcj 
are always to do the same.* 
The irreg- §. 8. The singing of this office by Laymen, as prac- 
uiarity of tised in several cathedrals and colleges, is certainly very 
L^t^'n^^^^ unjustifiable, and deservedly gives offence to all such as 
*/aymea. ^^e zealous for regularity and decency in divine worship. 
And therefore (since it is plainly a practice against the 
express rules of our Church, crept in pardy through the 
indevout laziness of Minor Canons and others, whose du- 
ly it is to perform that solemn office ; and partly through 
the shameful negligence of those who can, and ought to 
correct whatever they see amiss in such matters) it can- 
not surely be thought impertinent, if 1 take hold of this 
opportunity to express my concern at so irreligious a cus- 
tom. And to shew that I am not singular in my complaint^ 
I shall here transcribe the words of the learned Dr. Ben- 
net, who hath some time since, upon a like occasion, very 
severely, but with a great deal of decency, inveighed 
against this practice; though I cannot learn that he has 
yet been so fortunate as to obtain much reibrmation. 

" 1 think myself obliged (saith he^^) to take notice of 
" a most scandalous practice, which prevails in many 
** sucn congregations, as ought to be fit precedents for the 
" whole kingdom to follow. Jt is this ; that Laymen, and 
«i very often young boys of eighteen or nineteen years 
" of age, are not only permitted, but obliged to perform 
** this office, which is one of the most solemn parts ol cVi- 
" vine service, even though many Priests and Deacons 
*' are at the same time present. 

*' Those persons upon whom it must be charged, and 
" in whose power it is to rectify it, cannot but know thai 
" this practice is illegal, as well as abominable in ilself, 
" and a flat contradiction to all primitive order. And 
one would think, when the nation swarms with such as 
** ridicule, oppose, and deny the distinction of Clergy 
" and Laity ; those who possess some of the largest and 
*' most honourable preferments in the church, should be 
^ ashamed to betray her into the hands of her professed 

26 See Bishop Sparrovr, as in 27 Upon the Common Prayer, 

page 165, note 22. page 94. 

* '' If the Litany be, as ct^rtainly it is, our most fervent address ta 
G.^cK fit i« it that it <hou!d be 'rude in the mo?t siimficant, that is, "m 
the lowest postu e of supplication." L' Estrange. 



Of ike Litani/. 177 

"' enemies, and to put arguments into their mouths, and Sect. I.- 
" declare by their actions that they think any Layman ^ 

" whatsoever as truly authorised to minister in holy 
" things, as those who are regularlj^ ordained. Besides, 
" with what face can those persons blame the Dissenting 
" Teachers, for onicioting without Episcopal Ordination, 
'* when they themselves do not only allow of, but require 
*' the same thing?'' 

Sect. I. Of the Invocation. 

>V E have a divine command to call upon God for Thetn-vo- 
mercy in the time of trouble^^; and all the Litanies *^^*'°°* 
I have seen hesjin with this solemn word, Kup'e s^itirov, 
Lord have mercy upon us. So that this Invocation is the 
sum of the whole Litany, being a particular address for 
mercy first to each Person in the glorious Trinity, and 
then to them ahogtrher. The address being urged by 
two motives, viz first, because we are miserahle ; and se- 
condly, because we are sinners : upon both which ac- 
counts we exlreriiely need mercy. 

§. 2. The design of the people's repeating these whole Why re- 
verses after the minister is, that every one may first peatna bj 
crave to be heard in his own words; which when they J.^^^^.^^^^- 
have obtained, they r^>ay leave it to the Priest to set forth tion, 
all their needs to Almighty God, provided that they de- 
clare their assent to every petition as he dehvers it. 

Sect. IL Of the Deprecations, 

IT AVING opened the way by the preceding Invoca- The De- 
tion, we now begin to ask; and because deliverance from precations* 
evil is the first step to felicity, we begin with these De- 
precations for removing it. Both the Eastern and West- 
ern Church begin their Litanies after the same manner^^ 
theirs as well as ours being a paraphrase upon that peti- 
tion in the Lord's prayer. Deliver us from evil, 

§. 2. But because our requests ought to ascend by de- The mc 
grees ; before we a>k for a perfect deliverance, we beg the *'• 'f^ 9^ 
m<iYcy of forbearance. For we confess we have sinned with *"®™* 
our fathers^ and that therefore God may justly punish us, 
not only for our sins, but for theirs also, which we have 

28 Jam«8 v. 13. 29 Litnrj^. S. Chrysos. etS.Ba* 

wl. — Miss, sec. Us. Sarub. 



1^8 Of the Litany, 

^||*M^« made oiir own by imitation : for which reason we beg 
of him not to remember^ or fake vengeance of us for tlum, 
especially since he has himself so dearly purchased our 
pardon with his own most precious blood. But however 
if we cannot obtain to be wholly spared, but that he may 
see it good for us to be a little under chastisement ; then 
we beg his correction may be short and soon removed, 
and that he would not be angry zoiih us forever. 

And the sum of all that we pray against being deliver- 
ance from the evils of s-in and punishment; we begin the 
next petition with two general words which comprehend 
both : for evil and mischief sigm(y wickedness and misery: 
and as the first is caused by the crafts and assaults of the 
devil ; so the second is brought upon us by the just wrath 
of God here, and completed by everlasting damnation here- 
after : and therefore we desire to be delivered both from 
sin and the punishment of it; as well from the causes 
that lead to it, as the consequences that follow it. 

After we have thus praj^ed against sin and misery in 
general, we descend regularly to the particulars, reckon- 
ing divers kinds of the moi^t notorious sins, some of which 
have their seat in the heart or mind, and others in the 
bodj-. And first we begin against those of the heart, 
where all sins begin, and there recount first the sins con- 
cerning ourselves : and, secondly, those concerning our 
neighbours. Of the former sort are blindness of heart, 
(which we place in the front as the cause of all the rest,) 
^nd pridc^ vain-glory^ and hypocrisy^ which are united to- 
gether in this deprecation, as vices which generallj^ ac- 
company one another. Of the other sort are envy^ ha* 
ired^ and malice, and all unchanlahteness ; in which words 
are comprehendea all those sins which we do, or can, 
commit against our neighbour in our hearts. 

From the heart sin spreads further into the life and ac- 
tions, and thither our Litany now pur-^ues it, beginning 
with that which St, Paul reckons first among the works 
of the flesh^^ but which is notwithstanding the boldest 
and most barefaced sin in this lewd age, viz. fornication, 
which is not to be restrained to the defiling ot sin-^le per- 
f sons, but comprehends under it all acts of uncleanness 
whatsoever. But though this be a deadly sin.yet it is not 
Vu'wh t ^'^^ ^"t^' ^"^' ^"'^ therefore ue pray to be delivered from 
iT'-l n.-^ f/// othe^r deadly sins ; by which we understand not such as 
fies.'' are deadly by way of distinction, or as they stand in op* 

30 Gai. V. 29. 



Of the Litany. 179 

position to vpuial sins, (for there are no sins venial in their ^^^* ^^ 
own nature,) out such as are those which David callspre- "^ 

sumptuous^ and begs particular preservation from^^, or 
those which are most heinous and crying above others. 
For though every sin deserves damnation in its own ma- 
ture, yet we know that the infinite goodness of God. will 
not inflict it for every sin. But then there are some sins 
go exceeding great, that they are inconsistent even with 
the Gospel-clemency, and immediately render a man ob- 
noxious to the wrath of God, and in danger of eternal 
damnation. And these are they which we pray against, 
together with all other sins, which we are apt to fall into 
Xhrough the deceits of our three great enemies, which we 
renounced in baptism, the worlds thefesh^ and the devilJ^ 
When the cause is removed, there are hopes the con- 
sequences may be prevented: and therefore, after we 
have petitioned against all sin, we may regularly pray 
asjainst all those judgments with which God generally 
scourges those who offend him ; whether they are such 
as fall upon whole nations and kingdoms and either come 
immediately from the hand of God, -as lightning and tem- 
pest^ plague, pestilence, and famine ; or else are inflicted by 
the hands of wicked men, as his instruments, as battle 
and murder: or whether they are such as fall upon par- 
ticular persons only, as sudaen death • such as happens Why we 
sometimes by violence, as by stabbing, burning, drown- P''?y ^' 
ing, or the like ; or else on a sudden and in a moment's den death 
time, without any warning or apparent cause. And 
though both these kinds of death may sometimes hap- 
pen to very good men, yet if we consider that by such 
means we may leave our relations without comfort, and 
our affairs unsettled ; and may ourselves be deprived of 
the preparative ordinances for death, and have no time 
to fit our souls for our great account ; prudence as well 
as humility will teach us to pray against them. 

Having thus deprecated those evils which might en^ 
danger our lives, we proceed next to pray against such 
as would deprive us of our peace and truth ; as well 

31 Psalm xix. 13. 

♦ The non conformists having objected io 1661 to the expressioa 
■*' deadly sin," as countenancii.g the dangerou? distinctiou among the 
Ro aaiiists of deadly and venial sin*, the Compilers of the Amencaa 
Lit.irgy to remove all occasion for objection, have substituted for the 
fir? : part of this petition, the words '• from all inordinate and sinful af- 
(eolioQs.^^ The improvemeat is so obvious tlmt it requires oo comment, 



180 Of the Litany, 

Chap. W. those which are levelled at the State, as is all sedition^ 
'"■~~" privy conspiracy^ and rebeUion^^, as those which portend 
the ruin of the Church, as all false doctrine^ heresy, and 
schism^'. And then we conclude with the last and worst 
of God's judgments, which he generally inflicts upon 
those whom neither private nor public calamuies will 
reform, viz : hardness of, hearty and contempt of hia word 
and commandment : for when people amend not ypon 
those punishiiieiKs which are inflicted upon their estates 
and persons, upon the Church and Stale ; then the pa-' 
tience of God is tired out, and he withoraws his grace, 
and i2;ivos them up to a reprobaie sense, the usual pro- 
logue to destruction and damnaiio.-i, from which deplora- 
ble state, ^ood Lord deliver us* 

And now to be delivered from all these great and 
grievous evil^, is a mercy so ver/ desirable, that i^ oug^nt 
to be begged by the most importunate kind of suppli- 
cation imaginable: and'such ai-e the two next petitions, 
which the Latins call obsecrations, in which the Church 
^ beseeches our dear Redeemer to deliver us from all the 

evils we have been praying against, by the mystery of his 
holy Incarnation^ c^c. i. e. she lays before our Lord all 
his former mercies to us expressed in his hicarnation^ 
J^'ativity, Circumcision, Baptism, and in every thing else 
which he has done and suftered for us ; and offers these 
considerations to move him to grant our requests, and to 
deliver us from those evils 

And though we are always either under, or near, some 
evil, for which reason it is never unseasonable to pray 
for deliverance ; yet there are some particular times when 
we stand in more especial need of the divine help : and 
they are either during our lives, or at our deaths. Du- 
ring our lives we particularly want the divme assistance, 
first in all times of tribulation, when Ave are usually tempt- 
ed to murmuring, impatience, sadness, despair, and the 
like : an*l these we pray against now, before the evil- 
day comes : not that (iOd would deliver us from all such 
times, which would Ne an unlawful request ; but that he 
would support us under them whenever he shall please 

32 Rebellion, Schi'm.] Both privy conspiracy in bofh Commoa 

the-e words were addfd lit the re- Prayer Books of King' EdwnrdVI. 

view after fiie rcfetoration of King" foIlow*'d, /rom the tyranny of the 

Charie.'. 11. \<> dep • cale for the Bishop of Rome ^ and all his de- 

lutdie the Ijke j.«jbversioti of the icsUiblt enorniUitK ; but this hat 

( hurch and Sfute to what they ever since been omttled. 
had then so iatelj? felt. After 



Of the Litany. 181 

to inflict them The other part of our lives which we Sect.IlI. 

pray to be delivered in^ is all time of our wealthy i. e. of 

our welf^M'e and prosperity, which are riUher more dan* 
gerous thon our time of adversitj^ ; ail kinds of prosper- 
ity, especially plenty and abundance, being exceeding- 
ly a^t to increase our pride, to inflame our lusts, to mul- 
tiply our sins, and, in a word, to make us forge t God, 
and grow careless of our souls. And therefore we had 
need lo pray that in all such times God would be please^] 
to deliver us. But whether we spend our days in pros- 
perity or adversity, they must all end in death, in the 
hour of which the devil is always most active, and we 
least able to resist him,. <Jur pains are grievous, and 
our fears many, atid the danger great of falling into im- 
patience, despair, or security : and therefore v/e con- 
stantly pray for deliverance in that important hour, 
which if God grant us, we have but one request more, 
and that is, that Le would also deliver us in the day of 
judgment] which is the last time a man is capable of cleli- 
veriAUce, since if we be not delivered then, we are left 
to perish eternally. How fervently therefore ought we 
to pray for ourselves all our life long, as St. Paul pray- 
ed ft;r Onesiphorus'', that the Lord would grant unto us 
that we may fad mercy of the Lord in that day ? 

Sect. 111. Of the Intercessions. 

If the institution of God be required to make this part The Inter- 
of our Litany necessary, we have his positive command cession. 
by St. Paul, to make intercession for all men^'^; and if the 
consent of the univeisal church can add any thing to its 
esteem, it is evident that this kind of prayer is in all the 
Liturgies in the world, and that every one of the petitions . 
we are now going to discourse of, are taken from the best 
and oldest Litanies extant. All therefore that will be ne- 
cessary here, is to shew the admirable method and order 
of these Intercessions, which are so exact, curious, and 
natural, that everj degree of men follow in their due 
place ; and, at the same time, so comprehensive, that we 
can think of no sorts of persons but who are enumera- 
ted, and for whom all those things are asked which all 
and every of them stand in need of. 

§. 2. But because it may seem presumptuous for us to '^^e me- 
pray for others, who are unworthy to pray for ourselves, o^rder'^of 

theiu. 
S3 2 Tim. i. 18. 34 1 Tim. ii. 1. 



189 Of the Litany. 

Chap, IV. before we begin, we acknowledge that we are simiers : 

*'""■' but yet, if we are penitent, we know our prayers will be 

acceptable; and therefore in humble confidence of his 
mercy, and in obedience to his command, We sinners do 
beseech him to hear us in these our Intercessions, which we 
offer up, first, for the holy Church universal, the common 
mother of all Christians, as thinking ourselves more con- 
cerned for the good of the whole, than any particular 
p^rt. After this we pray for our own Church, to which, 
next to the catholic Church, we owe the greatest observ- 
anee and duty; and therein, in the first place, for the 
principal memhrrs of it, in whose welfare the peace of 
the Church chiefly consists: such as is the King^ whom 
because he is the supreme Governor of the Church in 
his dominions, and so the greatest security upon earth 
to the true religion, we pray for in the three next peti- 
tions, that he may be orthodox, pious, and prosperous *• 
And though at present we may be happy under him; 
yet because his crown doth not render him immortal, 
and the security of the government ordinarily depends 
upon the Royal Family, we pray in the next place for 
them (and particularly for the heir apparent) that they 
may be supplied with all spiritual blessings, and preserv- 
ed from all plots and dangers'^ 

The Jews and Gen? iles always reckoned their chief 
Priests to be next in dignity to the King^^ ; and all an- 
cient Liturgies pray for the Clergy immediately after the 
Royal Faiiiiiy, as being the most considerable members 
of the Christian Church, distinguished here into those 
three apo:^tolical orders of Bishops^ Priests, and Deacons ; 
though in all former Common Praj^er Books they were 
called the Bishops, Pastors, and Ministers of the Churchy 
except in the Scotch Liturgy, which for Pastors had 
PreF-byters. 

Next to these follow those who are eminent in the 
State, viz : the Lords of the Council and all the Mobility^ 
who by reason of their dignity and trust have need of 
our particuJar prayers, and were always prayed for in 
the old Liturgies, by the title of the whole Palace, 

35 In King Edward's Litnreies till Kinp: James the P? time, for a 
the fir>t petiior. for the King wa? r<-a?on given in the section upon 
only this : That it may please thee the prayer for the Royal Family 
to fcetp Edward the Sixths the ser- in tt.e daily service. 

rap,l, our King the Governor^ 37 Aitx, ub Alex. I. 2. c. 8. 

36 This petition was not added 



of the Litany. 183 

After we have prayed for all the Nobility in gene- Sect. IHr 

ral, wc pray for such of the JNobility and Gentry •" 

as are Magistrates^ or more inferior governors of the 
People, according to the example of the primitive Chris- 
tians, and in obedience lo the positive command of St. 
Paul, who enjoins us to pray /or all that are in authority^'. 

After these we pray for all the people^ i. e. all the Com- 
mons of the Land, who are the most numerous, thoughr 
the least eminent; and unless they be ^afe and happy, 
the Governors themselves cannot be prosperous, (he 
diseases of the members being a trouble to the head also* 

And though we may be allowed to pray for our f>wn 
Nation first, yet our prayers must extend to all mankind ; 
and therefore in the next place we praj for the whole 
w orld, in the very words of ancient Liturgies, viz : that 
all nations may have unify at home among themselves, 
peace with one another, and concord, i. e. Amity, Conj- 
cierce, and Leagues. 

Having thus prayed for temporal blessings both for 
ourselves and others, it is time now to look mward, and 
t(; consider what is wanting for our souls : and therefore 
we now proceed to pray for spiritual blessings, su(,h as 
Virtue and Goodness. And, first, we pray that the prin- 
ciples of it may be granted in our hearts, viz ; the love 
and dr ad of God, and then that the practice of it may 
be sren in our lives, by our dUigent living after his com- 
mandments, 

Eut though we receive grace, yet If we do not improve 
it. we shall be in danger of losuig it again ; and there- 
fore having in the former petition desired that we might 
become good, we subjoin this that we may grow better ; 
begging increase of grace, and also that we may use pro- 
per means thereunto, such as is the rrteekly hearing of 
God''s word, <^c. 

From praying for the sanctification and improvement 
of those within the Church, we become solicitous for the 
conversion of those that are without it ; being desirous 
th it all skoald be brought into the way of truth who havt 
erred or are deceived. 

But though those without the Church are the most mi- 
serable, vet those within are not yet so happy as not to 
ne^d our prayers ; some of them standing in need of 
strength, and others of comfort : these blessings therefore 
we now ask for those that want them. 

3S 1 Tim. a. 2. 



184 Of the Litany. 

Chap. IV. Having thus considered the sou]? of ftien, we go on 

next to such things as concern their boch'es, and to pray 

for all the afflicted in general ; begging of God to succour 
all that are in danger., by prevcitting the niischief that is 
falling upon them ; to help those that are in necessity^ by 
giving them those blessings they want; and to comfort 
all that are in- tribulation, by supporting them under it, 
and delivering them out of it. 

And because the circumstances of some of these hin- 
der them from being present to pray for themselves ; we 
particularly remember them, since they more especially 
stand in need of our prayers, such as are all that travel 
hy land or by water, and the rest mentioned in that peti- 
tion. 

There are other afflicted persons who are unable to 
help themselves, such as are fatherless children and wid- 
ows ; who are too often destitute of earthly friends ; and 
such as are desolate of maintenance and lodging ; or are 
oppresed by the false and cruel dealings of wicked and 
powerful men : and therefore these also we particularly 
recommend to God, and beg of him to defend and' prO' 
videftr them. 

And after this large catalogue of sufferers, as well in 
spiritual as temporal things ; lest any should be passed 
who are already under, or in danger of, any affliction, we 
pray next that God would have mercy vpon all nan. 

And then, to shew we have no reserve or exception in 
our charity or devotions, we pray particularly for our 
enemies, persecutors, and slanderers ; who we desire may 
be partakers of all the blessings we have been praying 
for, and that God would moreover /or^i-ye them^ and turn 
their hearts. 

After we have thus prayed first for ourselves and then 
for others, we proceed to pray for them and ourselves 
together; begging, first, whatsoever is necessary for the 
sustenance of our bodies, comprehended here under the 
fruits of the earth* 

And then, in the next petition, asking for all things ne- 
cessary to our souls, in rrder to bring them to elrrnal 
happiness, viz. true repentance ^ forfiiveness of all our sins, 
ire, and amendment of life. Which last petition is very 
proper for a conclusion. For we know that if we do not 
amend our lives, all these Intercessions will signify no- 
thing, because God will not hear impenitent sinners. 
We theielbre earnestly beg repentance and amendment 



<!)f the tAtanif^ 185 

of life, that so all our preceding requests may not mis- ^^^^-^^^^ 
carry. ^ — — — 

And now having presented so many excellent suppli- 
caiions to the throne of Grace ; if we should conclude 
them here, and leave them abruptly, it would look as if 
we were not much concerned whether they were receiv- 
ed or not ; and therefore the Church has appointed us 
to pursue them still with vigorous importunities and re- 
doubled iiiueaties. And for this reasori we now call up- 
on our Saviour, whom we have all this while been pray- 
ing to, and beseech him by his Divinity, as he is the Sonof 
God, and consequently abundantly able to help us in all 
the&e things, that he would /tear us: and then afterwards 
invocate him by his Humanity, beseeching him by his 
sufferings for us, when he became the Lamb of God, and 
was sacrificed to take away the sins of the world, that he 
would grant us an interest in that peace, which he then 
made with God, and the peace of conscience following 
thereupon ; and that he would have mercy upon us, and 
take away our sins, so as to deliver us from guilt and 
punishment. And lastly, we beg of him, as he is the 
Lord Christ, our anointed Mediator, to hear us, and fa- 
vour us with a gracious answer to all these Intercessions. 

Finally, that our conclusion may be suitable to our be- 
ginning, we close up all with an address to the whole 
Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for that mercy 
which we have been begging in so many particulars : 
this one word comprehends them all, and therefore these 
three sentences are the epitome of the whole Litany ; 
and considering how often and how many ways we 
need mercy, we can never ask it too often, but of these 
see more in the former Chapter, Sect. XVI. 

Sect. IV. Of the Supplications, 

The following part of this Litany we call the SuppU- The origt- 
cations, which were first collected, and put into this suppiic^f 
form, when the barbarous nations first began to over- tiou*. 
run the empire about six hundred years after Christ; 
but considering the troubles of the church militant, and 
the many enemies it always hath in this world, this part 
of the Litany is no less suitable than the former at all 
times whatsoever. 

§. 2. We begin with the Lord's Prayer, of which we TheLord'4 
have spoke before^^ and need only observe here^ that the Pray«^ 

39 Chap. III. Sect. VI. page 1^, 



186 



Of the Li I any. 



Chap. IV. 



Pr.OLord, 
deul uot, 



Ans. Nei- 
ther re- 
ward us, 
&c. 



The pray- 
er against 
Persecu- 
tion. 



Answr. O 
Lord, a- 
rise, &c. 
fo; thy 
name^s 
sake. 



Pr. O God, 

we have 
heard,&c. 



ancients annexed it to every office, to shew both their 
esteem of that, and their mean opinion of ihcir own com- 
posures, which receive life and value from this divine 
form. 

§. 3. After this, we proceed to beg deliverance from 
our troubles : but because our consciences presently sug- 
gest, that our iniquities deserve much greater, and that 
therefore we cannot expect to be delivered, since we sutfer 
so justly ; we are put in mind that God doth not deal v)ith 
us after our sins^ nor reward us according to our iniquities'^**. 
And therefore we turn these very words into Supplication, 
and thereby clear his Justice in punishing us, but apply 
to his Mercy to proportion his chastisements according 
to our ability of bearing, and not according to the desert 
of our offences. 

§. 4. The way being thus prepared, the Priest now be- 
gins to pray for the people alone: but lest they should 
think their duty at an end, as soon as the responses are 
over, he enjoins them to accompany him in their hearts 
still by that anrient form, Let uspray^^; and then proceeds 
to the prayer against Persecution, which is collected part- 
ly out of the Scripture, and partly of the primitive forms, 
and is still to be found entire among the offices of the 
Western Church, with the tide. For Tribulation ofhtarf^^. 

It is not concluded with Amen, to shew that the same 
request is continued in another form ; and what the Priest 
begged before alone, all the people join to ask in the fol- 
lowing alternate Supplications taken from the Psalras'*^ 
When our enemies are rising against us to destroy us, we 
desire that God will arise and help us^ not for any worthi- 
ness in ourselves, butybr his namesake^ that he may make 
his power to be known**, 

§. 5. W^hilstthe people are praying thus earnestly, the 
priest, to quicken their faith by another divine sentence'**, 
commemorates the great troubles, adversities, and per- 
secutions, which God hath delivered his Church from 
in all ages ; and since he is the same Lord, and we have 



40 Psalm ciii. 10. 

41 Let us pray.] In ancient Li- 
turgies these words often served 
as a mark of transition from one 
sort of prayer to another, viz. from 
what the Latins call preces^ to 
what they term Oratione*: the 
Preces were those alternate peti- 
tion?, which passed conjointly be- 



tween the priest and people ; the 
Orationes were those that were 
said by the priest alone, the peo- 
ple only answering Amen. 

42 Miss. Sarisb. 

43 Psalm xliv. 26. and Ixzix. 
9. 

44 Psalm cvi. 8. 

45 Psalm xliv 1. 



Of the Litany. 187 

the same occasion, this is laid down as the ground of our Sect IV. 
future hope. ' 

For the wonderful relations which we have heard with 
our ears^ and our fathers have declared unto us. of God's 
rescuing this particular Church at first from Popery, and 
of his delivering and preserving it ever since froai fac- 
tion and superstition, from so many secret seditions and 
open rebellions, fully assure us that his arm is not short- 
ened. 

And therefore the people again say, Lord, arise, help ^^JJ" ^_ 
us, and deliver us for thine honour : which is no vain re- rise. &c. 
petition, but a testimony that they are convinced they for thine 
did wisely to ask of this God (who hath done so great *^o"o"*"- 
things for his people in all ages) now to arise and help ; 
that so the honour he hath gotten by the wonders of his 
mercy may be renewed and confirmed by this new act 
of his power and goodness. 

§. 6. To this is added the Doxology in imitation of^^ j^^, 
Ddvid, who would often, in the very midst of his com- to the Fa- 
plaint, out of a firm persuasion that God would hear him ther, 4'C. 
suddenly break out into an act of praise'*^ And thub we, 
having the same God to pray to, in the midst of our 
mournful supplications, do not only look back on former 
blessings with joy and comfort, but forward also on the 
mercies we now pray for: and though we have not yet 
received them, yet we praise him for them beforehand, 
and doubt not, but that, as he was glorified in the begin- 
ning for past mercies, so he ought to be now for the pre- 
sent, and shallhe hereafter for future blessings. 

§. r. But though the faithful do firmly believe, that rpj^^ ^^j. 
they shall be delivered at the last, and do at present re- lowing re- 
joice in hopes thereof; yet because it is probable their sponses. 
afflictions may be continued for a while for a trial of their 
patience, and the exercise of their other graces ; for 
that reason we continue (o pray for support in the mean 
time, and beg of Christ to defend us from our enemies, and 
to look graciously upon our afflictions ; pitifully \^or with 
pity"] to behold the sorrows of our hearts, and mercifully to 
forgive our sins, which are the cause of them. 

And this we know he will do, if our prayers be ac- 
cepted ; and therefore we beg of him favourably with 
mercy to hear them, and do beseech him, as he assumed 
our nature, and became the Son of David (whereby he 
took on him our infirmities, and became acquainted with 
our griefs) to have mercy upon us. 

46 Psalm vi. 8. and xxii. 22, Ac. 



188 Of the Litany. 

C*ap. IV. And because the hearing of our prayers in ihc time of 
" distress is so desirable a mercy, that we cannot ask it too 

fervently nor too often ; we therefore redouble our cries, 
and beg of him as he is Christ, our anointed Lord and 
Saviour, that he would vouchsafe to hear us now, and 
iy/i€nerer we cry to him for relief in our troubles. And, 
to shew we rely on no other helper, we conclude these 
Supplications with David's words in a like case''^ O 
Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon us^ as zoe do put our trust 
in thee. To him, and to him only, we have applied our- 
selves ; and as we have no other hope but in him, so we 
may expect that this hope shall be fulfilled, and that we 
shall certainly be delivered in his due time. 
Thepraycr §, 8. The whole congregation having thus addressed 
fyiiu our" ^^^ ^^^ » ^^^ priest now calls upon us to make our appli- 
troubles. cation to the Father (who knows as well what we sufier 
as what we can bear) in a most fervent form of address, 
composed at first by St. Gregory above one thousand one 
hundred years ago"^, but afterwards corrupted by the 
Roman Church, by the addition of the Intercession of 
Saints^^ which our Reformers have left out, not only 
restoring but improving the form.* 

Sect. y« Of the Prayer of St. Chrysostortiy and 
2 Cor. xiii. 14. 

TpHE Litany, as I hgvp already observed, was fromerly 
T^® PJ^y* a distinct service by itself, and was used generally after 
Chry«os- Moming Prayer was over ', and then these two final 
torn, and prayers belonged particularly to this service. But it be- 
2 Cur. xiii. j^g now used almost every where nyith the Morning 
Prayer, these latter collects, being omitted there (after 
some occasional prayers, which shall be spoken of next) 
come in here ; and how fit they are for this pl^cp may 
be seen by what is said of them already. 

47 Psalm xxxiii. 21. coL 1555. B. 

48 Sacram. S. Greg. torn. ii. 49 Miss. Sarisb. 

*The English reformers not only left ont the expression, *'for Xh% 
sake of the intercession of (hy saints," but also inserted for the more 
complete stcurity againg4 this reliance upon the mediation of painf?, 
•* Grant that in all onr troubles we may put our vihole trust and confi- 
dence in thy mcrcyy I»i this way, observes Archbishop Seeker, do 
wc '• borrow from the Church of Rome. '^ 

Awr. Ed. 



14 



Ofth^ Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings. 18S 

APPENDIX TO CHAP. IV. 

Of the Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings- 

Sect, I. Of the six first Occasional Prayers, 

The usual calamities which afflict the world are so ^PP^^ *^ 
f xactly enumerated in the preceding Litany, and the Cbap IV. 

common necessities of mankind so orderly set down — — - 

there ; that there seems to be no need of any additional The six first 
prayers to complete so perfect an office. But yet be- 2^^^^*°"^* 
cause the variety of the particulars allows them but a 
bare mention in that comprehensive form; the Church 
hath thoui(ht good to enlarge our petitions in some in- 
stances, because there are^ some evils so universal and 
grievous, that it is necessary they should be deprecated 
with a peculiar importunity; and some mercies so exceed- 
ing needful at some times, that it is not satisfactory enough 
to include our desires of them among our general requests; 
but very requisite that we should more solemnly petition 
for them in forms proper to the several occasions. Thus 
it seems to have been among the Jews: for that famous 
prayer which Solomon made at the dedication of the 
Temple*®, supposes that special prayers would be made 
there in times of fVar^ Droughty Peslilence^ and Famine, 
And the light of nature taught the Gentiles, on such ex- 
traordinary occasions, to make extraordinary addresses 
to their gods*^ Nor are Christians to be thought less 
mindfulof their own necessities. The Greek Church 
hath full and proper offices for times of Drought and 
Famine^ of War and Tumults^ of Pestilence and Mortality^ 
and upon occasions ofEarthquakes also, a judgment very 
frequent there, but more seldom in this part of the world. 
In the Western Missals there is a Collect, and an Epistle 
and Gospel, with some responses upon everyone of thf'se 
seldom indeed agreeing with any of our forms, which are 
subjects, the shortest of all ; being not designed for a com- 
plete office, but appointed to be joined to the Litany or 
Morning and Evening Prayer, every day while the occa- 
sion requires it ; that so according to the laws of Charles 
the Great, " In times of Famine, Plague, and War, the 
" mercy of God may be immediately implored, without 
'* staying for the King's Edict**." 

50 1 Kings viii. 33. 35. 37. 115. 

5 1 Lactant, Inat. 1. 2. c. 1, p. 52 Capitular, lib. 1. cap. 118, 



1; 



1 90 Of the Occasional Prayers 

Appendix ^^ 2. The two first of these prayers, viz. those for Rain 
Ghap! IV. ^^^ ^^^ -^^^^ Weather^ are placed^ after the six collects at 

the end of the Communion Office, in the first book of King 

When first Edward yj. The other four were added afterwards to 
added. his second book, in which they were all six placed, as 
now, at the end of the Litany. But in the old Common 
Prayer Book of Queen Elizabeth and King James 1. the 
second of the prayers m the time of Dearth, and Famine 
was omitted and not inserted again till the Restoration 
of King Charles II. 

Sect. II. Of the Prayers in the Ember-Weeks, 

The pray- 'X'HE Ordination of Ministers is a matter of so great 
Ember- ^ concern to all degrees of men, that it has ever been done 
W^eks. with great solemnity : and by the thirty-first canon of the 
Church it is appointed. That no Deacons and Ministers he 
made and ordained^ hut only upon the Sundays immediately 
following jejunia quatuor temporum, commonly called Em- 
ber- Weeks. And since the whole nation is obliged, at 
these times, to extra^ordinary Prayer and Fasting ; the 
Church hath provided two forms upon the occasion, of 
which the first is most proper to be used before the can- 
didates have passed their examination, and the other af- 
WTien terwards. They were both added to our Common 
added. Prayer Book at the last review ; though the second oc- 
curs in the Scotch Liturgy, just before the Prayer of St. 
Chrysostom, at the end of the Litany. 

As to the original, antiquity, and reason of these four 
Ember Fasts, and the fixing the Ordination of Ministers 
at those times, I shall take occasion to speak hereafter ; 
and shall only observe farther in this place, that it is a 
mistake in those who imagine that these prayers are on- 
ly to be used upon the three Ember-days, i. e, upon the 
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in every Ember- 
Week ; the rubric expressing as plain as words can do, 
that one of them is to be said every day in the Ember- 
Weeks, i. e. beginning, (as it is expressed in the Scotch 
Liturgy) on the Sunday before the day of Ordination* 

Sect. III. Of the Prayer that may be said after any 
of the former, 

^^[J^J^"* This prayer was first added in Queen Elizabeth's 
Common Prayer Book, and not by order of King 
James I. as Dr. Nichols affirms. When it was first insert. 



and Thanksgivings, 191 

ed, it was placed just after the prayer in the time of|any Sect. IV. 

common Plague or Sickness, (that being then the last 

of the prayers upon particular occasions,) but at the re- 
view after the Restoration, the two prayers for the Em- 
ber-Weeks were inserted just after that, and the collect 
we are speaking of, ordered to be placed immediately 
after those prayers. The Printers indeed set it in the 
place where it now usually stands, viz, between the 
prayers for all Conditions of Men and the general Thanks- 
gi'oing : but the commissioners obliged them to strike it 
out, and print a new leaf, wherein it should stand just 
before the praytr for the Parliament. But notwithstand- wrong 
ing this, in all the following impressions, this order was placed in 
again neglected, and the prayer that we are speaking of aH the ed- 
has, in all editions ever since, been continued in the same J^e'com- 
place, viz, just after the prayer for all Conditions of Men» mon Pray- 
But as no edition of the Common Prayer is authorized er. 
by act of Parliament, but such as is exactly conformable 
to the Sealed Books" ; we cannot justify ourselves in 
using it after that prayer, since the Sealed Books assign 
it a quite different place.* 

53 To understand what is meant by the Sealed Books, see a clause 
toward the end of the Act of Uniformity. 

* Shepherd says that Wheatly has only echoed the account of Dr. 
Nicholls in which he suspects there is some mistake. *^ In the copies 
of the Book,"sayj he, " which agreeably to a clause in the act of uni- 
formity, were collated with the engrossed statute, the prayer in ques- 
tion, evidently through inadverteacy, is printed in two different pla- 
ces, once before ^ the prayer for Parliament,' and again before * the 
Gei;eral Thanksgiving.' The latter, the Commissi< ners have erased, 
by drawing with a pen, through the upper and lower parts of the prin- 
ted iejLi^ two lines. The prajer is of course left in its proper place. 
Exclusively of the erasure, an inspection of the Sealed Books will, I 
apprehend, aff>rd satisfactory proof that a new leaf was not printed,'*'* 
A singular fatality has attended this excellent prayer. In the Ameri- 
can Prayer Book, it has been omitted, either from inadvertency or de- 
sign, though it would be difficult to assign an adequate reason for the 
omission. For the sake of those who have do access to the Engljsh 
Prayer Book, it has been thought best to insert it in this place. 
*• O God, whoFe nature and property is ever to have mercy and to for- 
give, receive our humble petitions ; and though we be tied and bound 
with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy 
loose n.«, for the honour of Jesns Christ our Mediator and Advocate, 
^men." It is a prayer of ancient date, having run thus in the old offi- 
ces : Dens, cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere ; suscipe de- 
precationem nostiam : ut nos et omnes famulos tuos, quos delictorum 
catena constringit, miseratio tua pietatis clementer absolvat. 

Am. Ed. 



192 O/the Occasiona I Praye rs 

Appendix 

Chap! IV. ^^^'^* ^^' Of '^« Prayer for the High Court of 
Parliament, 

The pray- J HOUGH the ancient monarchs of this kingdona, 
wlhColu-t Saxons and Normans, coming in by conquest, governed 
ofPariia- according to their own will at first; yet in aftertimes 
went. they chose themselves a great Council of their Bishops 
and Barons, and at last freely condescended to let the 
people choose persons to represent them : so that we 
have now had Parliaments for above four hundred years, 
consisting of Bishops and Barons to represent the Cler- 
gy and Nobility, and the Knights and Burgesses to rep- 
resent the Commons. But these being never summoned 
but when the King or Queen desires their advice, de 
a r^ s Regni negotiis^ and they having at such times great 
afilws under their debate, and happy opportunities to 
do both their Prince and Country service ; it is fit they 
should have the people's prayers for their success. And 
accordingly we find not only that the primitive Christ- 
ians prayed for the Roman Senate*^ but that even the 
Gentiles offered sacrifices in behalf of their public 
Councils, which were always held in some sacred 
place**. In conformity therefore to so ancient and uni- 
versal a practice, this prayer for our own Parliament 
was added to the last review. 

Sect. V. Of the Prayer for all Conditions of Men* 

When fi t B^^^^^^ ^^^ addition of this prayer, which was made 
add«d. b^t 21^ t^^ ^^st review, the Church had no general in- 
tercession /or a// Conditions of Men^ except on those 
days upon which the Litany was appointed. For which 
reason this collect was then drawn up, to supply the 
want of that office upon ordinary days ; and therefore 
it is ordered by the rubrick to be used at such times, when 
„ the Litany is not appointed to be said : consonant to which 

to be used ^^ ** ^^^'' ^ believe, a universal practice, and a very 
ia the Af- reasonable one, 1 think, to read this prayer every Even- 
ternoons. ing, as well as on such Mornings as the Litany is not 
said : though Dr. Bisse informs us**, that " Bishop Gun- 
" ning, the supposed Author of it, in the college where- 

54 Tertul. Apologet. 56 Beauty of HolineM in the 

55 Al. ab Alex. Geu. Dier. 1, 4. Common Prayer, paee 97, in th« 
c. U. Aul. Geil. I. 14 c. 7. Dotee. ' "- » 



and Thanksgivings, 193 

^* of he was head, suffered it not to be read in the after- ^^^^' ^• 
" noon, because the Litany was never read then, the """ "^ 
" place of which it was supposed to supply*" I know 
this form has been generally ascribed to Bishop 
Sanderson : but the above-mentioned Gentleman assures 
me, that it is a tradition at St. John's in Cambridge, that 
Bishop Gunning, who was for some time Master there, 
Was the Author, and that in his time it was the practice 
of the college not to read it in the Afternoon. And I 
have heard elsewhere, that it was originally draw^n up 
much longer than it is now, and that the throwing out a 
great part of it, which consisted of petitions for the 
King, the Royal Family, Clergy, &c. who are prayed 
for in the other collects, was the occasion why the word 
Jinally comes in so soon in so short a prayer. It ii^ not 
improbable, that the Bishop might have designed to 
comprehend all the intercessionai collects in one : but 
that the others who were commissioned for the same af* 
fair, might think it better to retain the old forms, and so 
only to take as much of Bishop Gunning's as was not 
comprehended in the rest.* 

§. 2. There being a particular clause provided in this Collects 
prayer, to be said when any desire the prayers of the congre- vjluatLn 
gation, it is needless as w^ell as irregular to use any col- office not 
lects out of the Visitation office upon these occasions ; to be used 
as some are accustomed to do, without observing the ^^^^^' 
impropriety they are guilty of in using those forms in 
the public congregations, which are drawn up to be used 
in private, and run in terms that suppose the sick person 
to be present.! 

* " We here pray more especially for the good e.^tate of the Catholic 
Church.''* [A0ier. Lit./or thy holy church universal ,-] "not so much 
for the external prosperity and grandeur of any particular establi^h- 
ment, but that the whole, the Oriental, the Greek, the Latin, the Re- 
formed, ihe Briti.^h, and (be American Charches, with eery other de- 
nomination of Christians, may be led into the way of truth ; ne'ittier in- 
troducing modern fanciful innovations, nor receiving ancient heretical 
opinions; but that they may Ao/i the faith '•(Mice delivered to the 
iainis.,^ tn unity of spirit^ in the bond of peace, atid in righteousness 
oflife.'>'> Sbepherd. 

'*" As in the creeds we acknowledge one Holy Catiiolic Church ; eo 
in our prayers we always count our own Church, as contained and em- 
bodied in it. Wherefore neither in this intercession, nor in the Lit- 
any, nor in the prayer for the Church Militant, is there finy express 
mention of the Church of J^ngland [the Protectant Episcopal Church 
in America] or of this churcli as any way distinct or separate from 
others." Dr. Bissk. 

t These remarks it will be readily seen, are not applicable to the 

z 



1^4 QftliQ Thanksgivings, 



Ciap. IV. 



Sect, VL Of the Thanksgivings. 

Ifr^oT* Praise is one of the most essential parts of God's 
Thinks- worship, by which not only all the Christian world, 
giving. but the Jews and Gentiles also paid their homage to the 
Divine Majesty; as might be shewed by innumerable 
testimonies: and indeed considering how many bles- 
sings we daily receive from God, and that he expects 
nothing else from us in return but the easy tribute of love 
and gratitude, (a duty that no one can want leisure or a- 
biiity to perform,) it is certain no excuse can be made for 
the amission of it. It is pleasant in the performance^, 
and profitable in the event; for it engages our great Be- 
nefactor to continue the mercies we have, and as well 
inclines him to give, as fits us to receive more**, 
These §. 2. Therefore for the performance of this duty the 

forms of reverend compilers of our Liturgy had appointed the i!/a/- 
sWm^^' ^^%«^9 ^^^^ Gloria Patri^ and the daily Psalms and Hymns, 
when add- ^^^ because some thought that we did not praise God so 
cd. particularly as we ought to have done upon extraordinary 

occasions, some particular Thanksgivings upon deliver- 
ance from Droughty Rain, Famine, War, Tumults, and Pes- 
tilenct, were added in the time of King James I. And to 
give more satisfaction still, by removing all shadows of 
defect from our Liturgy, there was one General Thanks- 
giving added to the last review for daily use, drawn up 
(as it is said) by Bishop Sanderson, and so admirably 
composed, that it is fit to be said by all men who would 
give God thanks for common blessings, and yet peculiar- 
ly provided with a proper clause for those who, having 
received some eminent personal mercy, desire to offer 
up their public praise : a duty which none that have had 
the prayers of the Churchy should ever omit after their 
recovery, lest they incur the reprehension given by our 
Saviour to the ungrateful Lepeis recorded in the Gospel, 
Were there not ten cleansed ? but ichere are the nine''- ? 

American ^^iturgy. Was it not an oversight in printing the American 
Prayer Book, (hat the particular clause here mentioned was omitted ? 
Tnere are many occabions not provided for by the occasion a) prajers, 
whirh render i^uch a general clause very desirable. V. hat renders 
the omission ruore remarkable, the clause in quest ion Wi s retfiined in 
" the proposed Book." Am. Ed. 

57 Psalm cxlvii. 1. 59 Luke xvii. 17. 

58 Psulm Jxvii. 5. 6. 7. 



Of the Sundays, Holy-days, irc» 195 

CHAP. V. 

OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, 

AND TH£IR fiSTERAL 

Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, 

The Introduction. 

X HE Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, to be used (at the ce- tutrodupt. 
leb ration of Ike Lord^s Supper, and holy Communion, as — — ^ 
it was said in all the old Common Prayer Books) through- 
out the year, standing next in order in the common Prayer. 
Book, come now to be treated of: but because they are 
seldom used but upon Sundays and Holy-days, it is ne- 
cessary something should be premised concerning the 
reasons and original of the more solemn observation of 
those days in general. And first, 

I. Of Sundays in general. 

One day in seven seems from the very beginning to One day 
have been sanctified by God***, and commanded to be »» f'even, 
set apart for the exercise of religious duties. All the ^^^ ^^P^ 
mysteries of it perhaps are beyond our comprehension : ^^* 
but to be sure one design of it was, that men, by thus 
sanctifying the seventh day, after they had spent six in la- - 
hour, might shew themselves to be worshippers of that 
God only, who rested the seventh day, after he had fin- 
ished the heavens and the earth in six. 

§. 2. The reasons why the Jews were commanded to Saturday, 
observe the Sevenih-day, or Saturday, in particular for ^^y tha 
their Sabbath, were peculiar and proper to themselves : g^uu^'jh 
it was on this day God had delivered them from their 
Egyptian bondage, and overwhelmed Pharaoh and his 
host in the Red Sea : so that no day could be more pro- 
perly set apart to celebrate the mercies and goodqess of 
God, than that, on which he himself chose to confer up- 
on them the greatest blessing they enjoyed. 

§. 3. But the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt by Sunday, 
the ministry of Moses, was only intended for a type and ^'^J ®^" 
pledge of a spiritual deliverance which was to come by the^Chrt"^ 
Christ : their Canaan also was no more than a type of tians. 
that heavenly Canaan, which the redeemed by Christ do 

60 Genesis ii. 3. 



196 



Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 



Chnp. V. look for. Since therefore the shadow is made void by 
the coming of the substance, the relation is changed ; and 
God is no more to be worshipped and believed in, as a 
God foreshewing and assuring by types, but as a God 
who hath performed the substance of what he promised. 
The Christians indeed, as well as the Jews, are to ob- 
serve the moral equity of the fourth Commandment, and, 
after six days spent in their own works, are to sanctify 
the seventh: but in the designation of the particular day, 
they may and ought to differ. For if the Jews were to 
sanctify the seventh day, only because they had on that 
day a temporal deliverance as a pledge of a spiritual 
one ; the Christians surely have much greater reasons 
to sanctify the first, since on that very day God redeem- 
ed us from this spiritual thraldom, by raising Jesus Christ 
our Lorj from the dead, and begetting us, instead of an 
earthly Canaan, to an inheritance incorruptible in the hea- 
xens. And accordingly we have the concurrent testi- 
monies both of Scripturesi and Antiquitj^^, that the 
firsl day oi the week, or Sunday, hath ever been the sta-; 
ted and solemn time of the Christians meeting for their 
public worship and service. 

§. 4. In th^ East indeed, where the Gospel chiefly pre^ 
vailed amorjg the Jews, who retained a great reverence 
for the Mosaic rites, the Church thought fit to indulge 
the humour of the Judaizing Christians so far, as to ob- 
serve the Saturday as a festival day of devotions, and 
thereon to meet for the exercise of religious duties ; 
as is plain from several passages of the ancients^^ But 
however, to prevent giving any offence to others, they 
openly declared, that they observed it in a Christian 
way, and not as a Jewish Sabbath*"*, And this custom 
was so far frcm being universal, that at the same time all 
over the West, except at Milan in Italy ^^' Saturday wa s 
kept as a ^^fast, (as being the day on which our Lord lay 
dead in the grave,) and is still, for the same reason, ap- 
pointed for one of the fast days in the Ember-Weeks by 



Saturday, 
why and 
how ob- 
served by 
the East- 
ern Chris- 
tians. 



61 Acts ii. 1. xs. 7. 1 Cor.xvi. 
% Rev.i. 10,, 

62 S. Barnab. i. 15. Ignat. ad 
Masjnes. i. 9- p. 23. Just. Mart. 
Apol. 1. c. 89. p. 132. Tert. de 
<fJoron. Mil. cap. 3. p. 102. A.Plin. 
). \y). Epist, 97. Orig. in Exofi.xv. 
Horn. 7. torn. i. p. 49. F. et alibi. 

63 Athanas. Ilonul.dc Sement. 
torn. ii.p.ea.A. Socrat.Hifit.Eccl. 



I. 6. c. 8. p. 312 D. Conril.Laod, 
Can. 16. 51. torn. i. eol. 1500. B. 
et 1505. B. 

64 Atfianaa. ut supra. Concil. 
Laod.Can. 29. torn. i. col. 1501. U. 

65 Paulin. in Vita Ambr. 

66 Tnnocentit. primi Epist. ad 
Decent. Eupnbinc. 4. Concil. tom. 
ii. col. 1246. D. Concil. Elib. Can 
26. torn i col. 9/3. D. 



and their Collects^ Epislhs, and Gospels. 197 

the Church of England ; which, in imitation both of Introduct. 
the Eastern and Western churches, always reserves to ' 

the Sunday the more solemn acts of public worship and 
devotion. 

II. Of our Saviour^s Holy- days in general. 

But besides the weekly return of Sunday, (whereon Our Savi- 

we celebrate GoJ's e:oodness and mercies set forth in j"^'^^"'^" 
&> , . . 1 V 1 r,i I days in ge- 

our creation and redemption m general,) the Church jj/ral. 

hath set apart some days yearly for the more particular 
remembrance of some special acts and passages ol our 
Lord in the redemption of mankind ; such as are his 
Incarnation and JS'ativiiy^ Circumcision, Manifestation to 
the Gentiles, Presentation in the Temple ; his Fastings Pas' 
sion^ Resurrection, dind Ascension ; the Sending of the Ho^ 
ly Ghost, and the Manifestation of the Sacred Trinity* 
That the observation of such days is requisite, is evident 
from the practice both of the Jews and Gentiles : nature 
taught the one^^ and God the other, that the celebration 
of solemn festivals was a part of the public exercise of 
religion. Besides the feasts of the Passover^ of Weeks, 
and of Tabernacles, which were all of divine appoint- 
ment, the Jews celebrated some of their own institution, 
viz. the feast of Purim^^ and the Dedication of the Tern- 
/)/e*^, the latter of which even our blessed Saviour him- 
self honoured with his presence^^ 

§. Q, But these festivals being instituted in remem- Christians 
brance of some signal mercies granted in particular to t^^^^o o^- 
Ihe Jews ; the Christians, who were chiefty converted ig^h^feas^tZ' 
from the Heathen world, were no more obliged to ob- 
serve them, than they were concerned in the mercies 
thereon commemorated. And this is the reason that 
when the Judaizing Christians would have imposed up- 
on the Galatians the observation of the Jewish festivals, 
as necessary to salvation; St. Paul looked upon it as a 
thing so criminal, that he was afraid the labour he had 
bestowed upon them to set them at liberty in the freedom 
of the Gospel had been in vain'^ ; not that he thought the 
observation of festivals was a thing in itself unlawful, but 
because they thought themselves still obliged by the Law 
to observe those days and times, which being only shad- 

67 Plat, de Leglbus, lib. 2.tom. 89 1 Maccab. iv. 59. 

ii. p. 653. D. ad Hen. Steph. Par. 70 John x. 22. 

1578. 71 Gal. i?, 10, II. 

68. Esther ix 



1 98 ^flht Sundays and rioly-da^/s^ 

^Chap. V. ows of tilings to come, were made void by the coming 

l""^ of the substance. 
astivaK §• ^' ^s ^^ ^^^^ celebration of Christian festivals, they 
Jio^v eaiiy thought themselves as much obliged to observe them as 
observed the Jews were to observe theirs. They had received 
Charcb S^^^^^r benefits, and therefore it would have been the 
highest degree of ingratitude to have been less zealous 
in commemorating them. And accordingly we find that 
in the very infancy of Christianity some certain daj^s 
were yearly set apart, to commemorate the Resurrection 
and Ascension of Christ, the Coming of ike Holy Ghosty 
&c. and to glorify God, by an humble and grateful ac- 
knowledgment of those mercies granted to them at those 
times, Which laudable and religious custom so soon 
prevailed over the universal church, that in five hun- 
dred years after our Saviour, we meet with them dis- 
tinguished by the same names we now call them by ; 
such as Epiphany^ Ascension-day, Whit-Sunday^ ^c. and 
appointed to be observed on those days, on which the 
Church of England now observes them^^ 

III. Of Saints-days in general 

Jlowihej But besides the more solemn festivals, whereon they 

were ob- were w^ont to celebrate the mysteries of thfir Re- 

fcrved b^ demption, the primitive Christians had their Memories. 

t**^ Ch™'- "^cf^'y^^^ or certain days set apart yearly in commem- 

tioDs. oration of the great heroes of the Christian Religion, 

the blessed Apostles and Martyrs, who had attested the 

truth of these mysteries with their blood: at whose 

graves they constantly met once a year, to celebrate 

their virtues, and to bless God for their exemplary lives 

and glorious deaths ; as well to the intent that others 

might be encouraged to the same patience and fortitude, 

as also that virtue, even in this world, might not wholly 

lose its reward : a practice doubtless v^ry ancient, and 

probably founded upon that exhortation to the Hebrews, 

to remember those who had had the rule over ihem^ and who 

had spoken unto them the wordofGod^ and had sealed it 

with their blood". In which place the author of that 

Epistle is thought chiefly to hint at the martyrdom of 

St. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, who, not long 

before, had laid down his life for the testimony of Jesus. 

72 Const, Apost. 1. 5. c. 13.— l 8. 73 Heb. xiii. 7. 

C.S3. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, 199 

And we find that those who were eye-witnesses of the Introduet. 
sufferings of St. Ignatius, published the day of his mar- - 
tyrdom, that the Church of Antioch might meet together 
at that time to celebrate the memory of such a valiant 
combatant and martyr of Christ^'', After this we read 
of the Church of Smyrna's giving an account of St. Poly- 
carp's martyrdom, (which was A, D. 14?^*,) and of the 
place where they had entombed his bones, and 
withal professing that they would assemble in that place, 
and celebrate the Birth-day of his Martyrdom with joy 
and gladness^^ (Where we may observe, by the way, 
that the days of the martyrs deaths were called their 
Birth days ; because they looked upon those as the days 
of their nativity, whereon they were freed from the pains 
and sorrows of a troublesome world, and born again to 
the joys and happiness of an endless life.) These solem- 
nities, as we learn from Tertullian^^, were yearly celebra- 
ted, and were afterwards observed with so much care 
and strictness, that it was thought profaneness to be ab- 
sent from the Christian assemblies upon these occa- 
sions^*. 

ly. Of the Festivals observed by the Church of England, 

1 HE following ages were as forward as those we ^A^* ^^^^ 
have already spoken of, in celebrating the Festivals of cLurchof 
the Martyrs and holy men of their time. Insomuch England 
that at the last the observation of holy-days became both observes, 
superstitious and troublesome ; a number of dead men's 
names, not over eminent in their lives either for sense or 
morals, crowding the calendar, and jostling out the festi- 
vals of the first Saints, and Martyrs. But at the reforma- 
tion of the Church, all these modern Martyrs were thrown 
aside, and no festivals retained in the calendar as days of 
obligations but such as were dedicated to the honour of 
Christ, &c. or to the memory of those that were famous 
in the G.>spels. Such as were, in the first place, the 
twelve Apostles, who being constant attendants on our 
Lord, and advanced by him to that high order, have each 
of them a day assigned to their memory. St. John the 

74 Act. Mart. Ignat. }.7.p.52. 135. A. B. 

75 Pear-.on.l)iss»'r(at.Chronc.lo- 77 J-)e Coron. Mil. c. 3, p.lO^. 
gic, part 2 a Cop 14. ad 20, A. 

76 Eccies- Smyrn. Ep:^t. de 78 Euseb. de Vit. Const. I. 4 c. 
Mart. S. Polycarp. }. 18. p.73. et 23. p 536. C, Basil. Ep, 336.toiD, 
Euseb. Hiator. Eccl. 1, 4, c. 15. p. iii. p. 2:^3, E. 



200 Of the Sundays and Holy-days^ 

Chap. V. Baptist and St. Stephen have the sanne honour done fo 
■ them ; the first because he was Christ's forerunner ; the 

other upon account of his being the fiist Martyr. St. 

Paul and St. Barnabas* are commemorated upon account 

St. Paul * St. Paul and St. Barnabas were neither of them inserted 

and St. in the table of holj-days prefixed to the calendar, till the 
Bnrnabas, Scotch Liturgy was compiled, from whence they were taken 
why not jq^q ^^j. q^^j^ ^^ tj^g \^^^ review: nor were Ihey reckoned 
the°t^b!^ "f ^P among the dajs that were appointed by the Act, in the 
holy-davs. ^^^h and sixth year of King Ldward ¥179 to be observed as 
holy-days; though it is there expresslj'^ enacted, that no oth- 
er day but what is therein mentioned shall be kept or com- 
manded to be kept, holy. However the names of each of 
them were inserted in the calendar itself, and proper ser- 
., vices were appointed for them in all the Common Prayer 

i Books that have been since the Reformation. And in the 

first book of King Edward they are both red-letter holy-days : 
though in the second book (in w^hich the other holy-days are 
also printed in red letters) the Conversion of St. Paul is put 
down in black, and St. Barnabas is omitted. But this last 
seems to have been done through the carelessness of the 
printer, and not through design ; proper second lessons be- 
ing added in the calendar against the day. The reason of 
their being left out of the table of holy-days, was, because if 
they fell upon any week-day, they were not to be observed 
as days of obligation^ or by ceasing from labour, nor to be bid 
in the church. Their proper offices might be used, so they 
were not used solemnly, nor by ringing to the same, after the 
manner used on high-holy-days. The reason why these were 
not high-holy-days, I suppose, was, because the Conversion 
of St. Paul did always, and St. Barnabas did often, fall in 
Term-time ; during which time and the time of harvest, i. e. 
from the first of Julj to the twenty-ninth of September, it 
was ordained in Convocation by the authority of King Hen- 
ry VIII. in 1536, that no days should be observed as holy-days, 
except the feasts of the Apostles, of our bk-ssed Lady, and 
St. George, and such feasts as the Kmg-s Judges did not use 
to sit in Judgment in Westminster-Haii'^. The days in the 
terms in which the Judges did not use to sit were the feasts 
of the Ascension, of St. John Baptist, of All Saints, and of the 
Purification. By the feasts of the Apostles I suppose the 
twelve only were meant : and therefore St. Paul and St. Bar- 
nabas were excluded. But as they are inserted now in the 
table of holy-days, which, with tl»e whole Liturgy, is confirm- 
ed bythe Act of Uniformity ; they are both of them days of 
equal obhgation with the rest. 



79 Chap 111. 168. and Heylin'* Miscellaneous 

80 See bparrow'sCollfcct.p.l6/f. Tiacts, p. If. 



and their Colled s, Epislles, and Gospels, 201 

df their extraordinary call : St. Mark and St. Luke for ^°^''^^^"^- 
the service they did Christianity by their Gospels ; the 
Holy Innocents, because tliey are the first that suffered 
upon our Saviour's account, as also for the greater solem- 
nity of Ciiristmas; the birthof Christ being the occasion 
of their deaths. The memory of all other pious persons 
is celebrated together upon the festival of All-8aints : 
and th.^t the people may know what benefits Christians 
receive bj^ the ministry of angels, the feast of St. Michael 
and all Aitgelsis for that reason solemnly observed in 
the Church, 

§. 2. Designing to treat in this chapter of all these ^^^"^rves 
days separately, in the order that they lie in the Common them. 
Prayer Book, I shall say nothing farther of them in this 
place ; but only shall observe in general, that they were 
constantly observed in the Church of England, from the 
time of the Reformation till the late Rebellion, when it 
could not be expected that any thing that carried an air 
of religion or antiquity could bear up against such an ir- 
resistible inundation of impiety and confusion. But at the 
Restoration our holy-days were again revived, together 
with our ancient Liturgy, which appoints proper Col- 
lects, Epistles, and Gospels, for each of them ; and orders 
the Curate to declare unto the people^ on the Sunday bef or e^ 
what holy-days or fasting-days are m the week followiiig to 
be observed}^. And the preface to the Act of Uniformity 
intimates it to be schismatical to refuse to come to church 
on those days. And by the first of Elizabeth, which is 
declared by the Uniformity-Act to be in full force, all 
persons, having no lawful or reasonable excuse to be absent^ 
are obliged to resort to their Parish-Church on Holy-days^ as 
Will as Sundays^ and there to abide orderly and soberly dur- 
ing the time of divine service^ upon pain or punishment by 
the censures of the Church, and also upon pain of twelve 
pence for every offence, to be levied by distress. 

§. 3. In relation to the concurrence of two Holy-days Of Con- 
together, we have no directions either in the rubric or *^"'"!?'**^^ 
elsewhere, which must give place, or which of the two days.°^" 
services must be used. According to what I can gather 
from the rubrics in the Roman Breviary and Missal, 
(which are very intricate and difficult,) it is the custom of 
that Church, when two holy-days come together, that 
the office for one only be read, and that the office for the 
©ther be transferred to the next day ; excepting that 

81 Rubric after the Kicene Creed. 
A A 



902 Of the Sundmjs and Holy-days, 

^^^P- ^' some commemoration of the transferred holy-day be 
made upon the first day, by reading the hymns, verses, 
&c. which belong to the hojy-day that is transferred. 
But our Liturgy has made no such provision. For this 
reason some ministers, when a holy-day happens upon a 
Sunday, take no notice of the holy-day, (except that 
sometimes they are forced to use the second lessons for 
such holy-day, there being a gap in the column of se- 
cond lessons in the calendar,) but use the service ap- 
pointed for the Sunday ; alledging that the holy-day, 
which is of human institution, should give way to the 
Sunday, which is allowed to he of divine. But this is an 
argument which I think not satisfactory : for though the 
observation of Sunday be of divine institution, yet the 
service we use on it is of human appointment. Nor is 
there any thing in the services appointed to be used on 
the ordinary Sundays, that is more peculiar to, or tends 
to the greater solemnity of the Sunday, than any of the 
services appointed for the holy-days. What slight 
therefore do we shew to our Lord's institution, if when 
we meet on the day that he has set apart for the worship 
of himself, we particularly praise him for the eminent 
virtues that shined forth in some saint, whose memory 
that day happens to bring to our mind ? Such praises are 
so agreeable to the duty of the day, that I cannot but 
esteem the general practice to be preferable, which is to 
make the lesser holy-day give way to the greater ; as an 
ordinary Sunday, for instance, to a Saint's day ; a Saint's 
day to one of our Lord's festivals ; and a lesser festival of 
our Lord to a greater: except that some, if the first lesson 
for the holy-day be out of the Apocrypha, will join the 
first lesson of the Sunday to the holy-day service : as ob- 
serving that the Church, by always appointing canonical 
Scripture upon Sundays, seem.s to contenance their use 
of a canonical lesson even upon a holy-day^ that has a 
proper one appointed out of the Apocrypha, if that holy- 
day should happen upon a Sunday. But what if (he An- 
nunciation should happen in Passion-week ; or either that 
or St. Mark upon Easter-Monday or Tuesday ? or what 
if St. Barnabas should fall upon Whit Monday or Tues- 
day ? or what if St. Andrew and Advent-Sunday both 
come together? In any of these concurrences 1 do not 
doubt but the service would be differently performed in 
difTerent churches. And therefore I take this t9 be a 
case, in which the Bishops ought to be consulted, they 
having a power vested in them to appease all dirersity, {if 



and their Colkcls, Epistles, and Gospels. 203 

any arise,) and to resolve all doubt concerning the manne^r I ntroduct. 
how to understand^ do, and execute the things contained in " 
the Book of Common Prai/er^^,* 

V. Of the Vigils or Eve, 

In the primitive times it was the custom to pass great yj^-j^^ ^^^ 
part of the night that preceded certain holy-days in so called 
relij^ious exercises and devotion ; and this even in those 
places which were set apart for the public worship of 
God. And these exercises, from their being performed 
in the night-time, came to be called Vigilice, Vigils or 
Watchings. . tk * 

§. 2. As to the original of this practice, some are in- j^^^^Jf" 
clined to found it upon the several texts of Scripture lite- ^^^ 
rally understood, where Watching is enjoined as well as 
Prayer ; particularly upon the conclusion our Saviour 
draws from the parable of the ten virgins : Watch there- 
fore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the 
Son of man cometh^^. But others, with greater probabi- 
lity, have imputed the rise of these night-watches to the 

82 See the Preface concerning 83 Matt. xxv. IS. 
Ihe Service of the Church. 

•" Uniformity of practice," says Shepherd, " was certainly intended 
by the Church, and whet now may seem to require the direction of a 
rubric, or at least the decision of the Diocesan, our forefathers in all 
probability, thought sufficiently plain. They knew that prior to the 
reformation, (admitfins that the piactice of England corresponded with 
that of the Roman and Gall-can churches,) the service fo rail the holy- 
days now retained, being doubles^ generally took place of that appoint- 
ed for ordinary Sundays. They would therefore naturally read the 
seryice for the Saint's day, and omit that for the Sunday in general. 
This continues to be the practice of the Roman Church, and it was the 
practice of the Galilean Church for more than a century after the era 
of our reformation. In some parts of the late Galilean Church a change >► 

took place about the beginning of the present century, [the 18th] and 
the service for the Sunday was appointed to supersede that for the saint's 
day. But incur church no such alterations have been made by law- 
ful authority. Hence it would appear that the service for the saints' 
day, and not that for the Sunday should be used ,^nd notwithstand- 
ing there exists some diversity of opinion on this subject, yet the most 
general practice seems to he to read the Collect., Epistle and Gospel Jor 
the Saint^s day., and it is most consonant to that practice to read also 
the first lesson appropriated to that diy." Crit. & prac. el ucidjVol. I. 
p. 204-5. 

Shepherd observe* that prior to the reformation the office for the 
faint's day on all doubles cenkballi superseded the office for the 
Sunday. The exceptions to this general rule he has given in another 
part of the same volume (p. 190 note) viz. the Sundays of Advent and 
Lent, easter-day, Whitsunday and Trinity Sunday, which took place of 
doubles. Am. Ed. 



t04 Of the Sunclays and Holy-day!?, 

Chap. V. necessity which Christians were under of meeting in the 
"" night, and before day, for the exercise of their public de- 
votions, by reason of the malice and persecution of their 
enemies, who endeavoured the destruction of all that ap- 
peared to be Christians^"*. And when this first occasion 
ceased, by the Christians having liberty given them to 
perform their devotions in a more public manner, they 
still continued these night-watches before certain festi- 
vals, in order to prepare their minds for a due observa- 
tion of the ensuing solemnit}'*^. But afterwards, when 
these night-meetings came to be so far abused, that no 
care could prevent several disorders and irregularities, 
the Church thougjht fit to abolish them : so that the 
nightly watchings were laid aside, and the fasts only re- 
tained, but still keeping the former name of Vigils^^. 
§.3. The festivals th;U have these Vigils assigned to 
^^.\^^ ^^'' ^^^^^'^ by the Church of England", are the Nativity of our 
Vigils.' Lord and Purification of the blessed Virgin Mary, the 
Annunciation of the blessed Virgin, Easter-day, Ascen- 
sion day, Pentecost, St. Matthias, St. John Baptist, St. 
Peter, St. James, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Si- 
mon, and St. Jude, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, and All- 
Saints.* The reason why the other holy-days have no 
Which Vigils before them, is, because they generally happen 
andVhy.' ^^^^^^ between Christmas and the Purification, or be- 
tween Easter and Whitsuntide; which were always es- 
teemed such seasons of joy, that the Church did not 
think fit to intermingle them with any days of fasting and 
humiliation. They that fall between Christmas and the 
Purification, are the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the 
Evangelist, the Holy Innocents, the Circumcision, and 
the Convertion of St. Paul®^ The others that may hap- 
pen between Easter and Whitsuntide, are St. Mark, St. 
Philip and St. James, and St. Barnabas. It is true in- 
deed, the festival of our Lord's Ascension, which is al- 

84 See John xx. 19. Acts xii. tory, vol. ii. page 203. 

12. and xx. 7 TertnJ. de Coron. 87 See the table of the Vigils, 

c. 3. Piip. lib. 10. Ep. 97. &c.before (he Calendar,which was 

85 Tert. ad Uxor. lib. 2. Eiiseb. first inserted at the last review, 
de Vif. Const, lib. 4. Hieron.ad Thouirh the days before fh^sesev- 
Ripar adv. Vigilantium. eral festivals were marked for 

86 It neems the V^igii upon All- fasts in the Calendar in all the 
halbws Day at nig;h.t was kept by Common Prayer Book.*, except 
watching, and ringing of hell? all King Edward's. 

rid)t long, ti!l the year 1545, when 88 The day before the conver- 

Kin;,' Htnry VIII wrote to Cran- sion of St. Paul is marked fora Oijt 
mer to abolish if. ColIier''s Hi.s- in the Scotch Liturgy. 

* The obsf rv:ince of Vigils 13 not retained in the American Church. 



and their Collecls^ Epistles, and Gospels, 205 

ivnys ten days before Whitsunday, has a Vigil before Introduct. 

it : but it may be worth inquiring, whether there was any — • 

Vigil prefixed to it before the institution of the Rogation- 
Fasts, Avhich were appointed upon the three days that 
precede' this festival. There are two holy-days not 
yet name d, that have no Vigils, though they do not hap- 
pen in either of the above-mentioned seasons : the one 
is in September, viz. the feast of St. Michael and All 
Angels; the other in October, viz, the festival of St. 
Luke. Upon the first of these, one reason for the insti- 
tution of Vigils ceaseth, which was to conform us to the 
exampleof the saints we commemorate, and to remind 
us that they passed through sufferings and mortifica- 
tions before they entered into the joy of their Master ; 
whereas thos^ ministering spirits, for whose protection 
and assistance we return God thanks on that day, were 
at first created in full possession of bliss. The reason 
why the latter, viz, St. Lul*e, has no Vigil, is because 
the eve of that saint was formerly itself a celebrated 
holy-day in the Church of England, viz, the feast of St. 
Etheldred : hut that reason being now removed, I sup- 
pose every one is left to his own" libertj-, as to his pri- 
vate devotions, whether he will observe the eve as a 
Vigil or not. 

§. 3. All Sundays in the year being appointed by the "^Ji^^^j^^gJ^ 
Church to be observed as festivals, no vigil is allowed to ^p^n ^ 
be kept upon any of those days : there being a particular Monday 
rubric to order. That if any of the feast-days thai have a *« ^^ ^^' 
Vigil fall upon a Monday^ then the Vigil or fast-day shall o^^he Sa- 
he kept upon a Saturday, not upon the Sunday next before turday. 
it^^. But from hence a query ariseth, viz, on which even- 
ing service the collect for the festival is to be used : the vrhetber 
rubric indeed relating to this matter seems to be worded the collect 
very plain, viz. That the collect appointed for every Sunday, of a Mon- 
orfor any holy-day that hath a Vigil or eve, shall be said at ^^fis'^to^be 
the evening service next before ^°; but then this rubric seems used upon 
to suppose that the day before is the Vigil or eve ; and the Satur- 
makes no provision in case the festival falls upon the ^^y^^ 
Monday, when we are directed by the rubric above cited ev "ning. 
to keep the Vigil or fast upon the Saturday. Here then 
we are left at an uncertainty, nor can we get any light 
by comparing our present Liturgy with any former Com- 
mon Prayer Book, because both these rubrics, together 

89 See the Rubric at the hot- 90 See the Rubric before the col- 
tom of the table of Vigils. lect for the 1st Sandav in advent. 



206 Of the Sundays and Holy -days ^ 

Chap. V. with the table of Vigils or eves, were first added at the 

' last review. According to Mr. Johnson indeed, who 

imagines that the collect for the festival is appointed to 
be used upon the evening before, because then the hoiy- 
daj properly begins, v/e ought to read the collect upon 
the Sunday evening, though the Vigil be kept upon the 
Saturday. For he observes^^ that " the Church of Eng- 
" land has divided her nights and days according to the 
"Scriptural, not the civil account : and that though our 
" civil day begins from midnight, yet our ecclesiastical 
" dsay begins at six in the evening. And therefore the 
'* collect for the Sunday is to be read on what in our civil 
" account is called Saturday evening, and the collect of 
" Qverj greater festival at evening prayer next before. 
" The proper time for vespers or even-song is six of the 
" clock, and from that time the religious day begins : 
" therefore where evening prayer is read at its proper 
" season, the collect for the Purification may well be used 
" as the rubric directs, on what they call the foregoing 
" evening, notwithstanding those words. Thy only Son 
*' was THIS DAT presented in the Temple,^'* But against 
this supposition lie two objections ; the one is, that there 
are very few churches which begin prayers after six in 
the evening, which Mr. Johnson affirms to be the proper 
time for vespers or even-song : though if ihey did, the 
same difficulty would occur what collect we must use at 
evening prayer upon the festival itself, for then,according 
to Mr. Johnson, another day begins. But farther, if the 
day begins at six of the clock on the evening before, then 
the collect of every festival ought to be used on the fore« 
going evening ; whereas the rubric only orders, that the 
collects for Sundays, and such holy-days as have Vigils 
and eves, be said at the preceding evening service, and 
consequently supposes that the collects of such festivals, 
as have no Vigils, are only to be used upon the festivals 
themselves*. From whence too we may observe by the 

* Mr. Johnson has been pleased to reply to thii, that *' it 
'^ is so certain that six is the hour of even-song, that no 
^^ man will dispute it who is not a perfect stranger to things 
" of this nature92." That it was so formerly, whibt the 
old canonical hours of prayer were strictly observed, 1 rea- 

91 Clergyman's Vade Mecum, da (o his Clergyman's Vade Me- 
c. 22. page 210. cum, at the end of his two cases, 

92 See Mr. Johnson's AJclen- pages 106, 107. 



and their Colkcls, Epistles, and Gospels. SOf 

way, it is a mistake in those who use the collects of all Introduct. 

holj-dajs whatsoever upon the evening before. I know 

indeed it may he urged against this last observation, 



tlily allow. But that it is so still, I was not aware : for I own 
myself to be so much a stranger to things of this nature, as 
to have been hitherto of the opinion (though I shall be glad 
to alter it, when I shall be better informed) that, upon re- 
ducing the seven officesQ^ into two, viz. Mattins and Even- 
Song, or Morning and Eevning Prayer, as we now general- 
ly call them, there were no hours fixed for the saying of ei- 
ther. Ihe same learned Gentleman says farther in the 
same place, that " they who terminate the feasts 
*' within certain minutes, and because six is the hour of ves- 
*' pers will allow no latitude, have never considered that in 
*' the Scripture language (which is the best guide in this 
" matter) what is expressed by the evening.^ and going down 
" of the Sun^ in one text, (Deut. xvi. 6.) is called the time 
'* bet'ween the two evenings in another, (Exod. xii. 6.) And 
*' the time of the evening scacrifice is expressed by this last 
" phrase, (Numb, xxviii. 4.) And it is notorious that this 
" was any time between the ninth and twelfth according to 
'» them, the third and sixth with us." These texts of Scrip- 
ture I have seen before ; and have since considered how far 
they help Mr. Johnson's argument. But I cannot see yet 
that they prove any more than that they who began the day 
punctually at six one evening, ended it as punctually at six 
the next. But that the Church of England divides her 
nights and days according to the Scriptural, and not the ci- 
vil account, is his assertion, and not mine. To him it is clear, 
but not to me, that feasts are to be kept from even-song to 
even-song inclusively^^ That the festival day is not past till 
even-song is ended, 1 willingly grant : but that the festival 
begins at even-song before, wants I think a better proof. 
That the collect for a holy-day that hath a Vigil or eve, is to 
be said at the evening service next before, the rubric ap- 
points : but that the evening before is therefore part of the 
festival, I know not how to reconcile with another rubric 
that calls the eve or Vigil a fastw. I rather take it, that 
the evenings before such festivals as have Vigils are de- 
signed by the Church to be preparations to the festivals, 
rather than parts of them : and therefore I know not what 
Mr. Johnson means when he tells us, ''that holy-days which 
" begin not till morning prayer are not perfect feasts, but 
" were deemed to be of inferior rank by them that had the 

93 See Mr.Johnson^sEcclesias- 94 Addenda ut supra, 

tical Law3, A. D. 740, 28, and 95 See the Rubric at the end of 

957,19. the table of V^iffils. 



S08 Of the Sundays and Holy -days, 

Ghap. V. tiiat the Collect of the Nativity is directed by another ru- 
brie to he said continually from Christmas-day unto New- 
Year'^S'Eve ; and what makes this objection the stronger, 
is, that before the lastreview of the Liturgy, the Christ- 
mas collect was to be said until New-Yeoi's-Day. The 
changing Day therefore for eve looks something remark- 
able ; and as if they purposely designed that the collect 
of the Circumcision should be used on tiie evening before 
and that the collect of the Nativity should be then left 
off: the Church always speaking exclusive of the time 
or place it mentions in any such directions. What an- 
swer to make to this, I own 1 am at a loss. The best I 
can think of is, that New Years-Eve being the common 
name given to the last day of the year ; the person that 
altered the rubric might imagine, that the feast of the 
Circumcision had really an eve belonging to it. But 
whatever might be the occasion of the alteration, I think 
it can be urged no otherwise against what I have said, 
than as a single exception from a general rule. 
The week* §• 4. Now 1 am speaking of this, I shall observe one 
daycoilects thing more ; and that is, that whenever the collect of a 
not to be Sunday or Holy-day is read at the evening service be- 
hoiy-days, ^ore the weekly collect that had been in course must be 
or their omitted and give place. And the same rule, as I take it, 
«ve8, should be observed upon the holy-day itself, upon which 

no other collect ought to be used, but the proper one for 
the day. For the rubric, at the end of the order how the 
rest of the services appointed to be read, directs, that the 
collect, ^cfor the Sund-ay shall serve all the week after, 
where it is not otherwise ordend; which supposes, that in 
some places it is otherwise ordered, which must be (as it 
was worded in all the old Common Prayer Books) when 
there falls some feast that hath its proper, u e. when any 
day falls that hath a proper or peculiar collect, &,c. to 
riself: upon which occasions the rubric plainly supposes, 
that the collect for the Sunday shall be left out and omit- 
ted: the Church never designing to use two collects at 



When he gives us his author- 
ity for what he asserts, I shall readily submit : but till then I 
shall be of the opinion, that some festivals which have not 
Vigils are as perfect feasts as some others which have : and 
that their not having Vigils assigned them, was not because 
they are of inferior rank, but for the other reasons that I 
have given above. 



and liuir Collects^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 209 

i onco, except wiihin the octaves of Christmas, and dur- Introduct 

j j.fii:!; Advent and Lent; when, for the greater solemnity """i " 

J of those solemn seasons, she particularly orders the col- 

I lects of the principal days to be used continually after 

I the ordinary collects. 

Vr. Of days of Fasting or Abslinence in general, 

TT H AT Fasting or Abstinence from our usual sustenance 
I is a proper means to express sorrow and grief, and a fit Fq^'^qI 

' method to dispose our minds towards the consideration cient and 

of any thing that is serious, nature seems to suggest : and universal 
therefore all nations, from ancient times, have used fast- * ^"^^^ 
ing as a part of repentance, and as a means to avert the 
anger of God. This is plain in the case of the Ninevites"*, 
whose notion of Fasting,' to appease the wrath of God, 
seems to have been common to them with the rest of 
1 mankind. In the Old Testament, besides the examples 
'j of private Fasting by David®^ and DanieP', and others; 
we have instances of public Fasts observed by the whole 
nation of the Jews at once upon solemn occasions®^. It 
is true indeed, in the New Testament we find no positive 
precept, that expressly requires and commands us to fast : 
but our Saviour mentions Fasting with Almsgiving and 
Prayer, which are unquestionable duties ; and the direc- 
tions he gave concerning the performance of it sufficient- 
ly suppose its necessity. And lie himself was pleased, 
before he entered upon his ministry, to give us an extra- 
ordinary example in bis own person, by fasting forty days 
and forty nights* . He excused indeed his disciples from 
fasting, so long as He, the Bridegroom, was with them ; be- 
( cause that being a time of joy and gladness, it would be 
'i an improper season for tokens of sorrow : but then he 
intimates at the same time, that though it was not fit for 
them then, it would be their duty hereafter: for the days, 
says he, will come, when the Bridegroom shall be taken from 
them, and then they shall fast^ . And accordingly we find, 
that after his ascension, the duty of Fasting was not only 
recommended^ , but practised by the Apostles, as anj'" 
one may see by the texts of Scripture referred to in the 
margin* . After the Aposdes, we find the primitive Chris- 

96 Jonah iii. 5. 1 Matt. iv. 2. 

97 Psalinlxix 10. 2 Malt. ix. 15. 

98 Dauiel ix. 3, 3 1 Cor. vii. 5. 

99 See Lef.itxiii. 26,&c.2Chro. 4 Acts xiii. 2, and xiv.23. ICor. 
XX.3. llzrsi viii. 21- Jor. xxxvi. 9. ix, 27, 2 Cor. vi. 5, and xi: 27. 
Zech. viii. 19, Joel i. 14. 

ii Be 



21d Of tilt Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap. V. (jaj-j5 ycpy constant and regular in the oljservati(^n lioth 
of their annual and weekly Fasts. Their weekly Fasts 
were kept on Wednesdays and Fridays, because on the 
one our Lord was betrayed, and on the other crucified. 
The chief of their annual fasts was that of Lent, which 
they observed by way of preparation for their feast of 
Day? of Easter. 

Fastintr, §. 2. Their manner of observing the^e Fasts was very 

ser^ed^b ^^^^^^ ' ^^ being their general custom to abstain from all 

thrprimi ^^0^5 ^i^^^h^'Piihlic devotion of the church was over: 

live Chris- which was about three of the clock in the afternoon, 

tians. though in the time of Lent they were not to eat till six in 

the evening ; and even then they forbore both flesh and 

wine, the greater part of them feeding only upon herbs 

or pulse, with a little bread. Some used the dry diet, as 

nuts and almonds, and such like fruit, whilst others fed 

Fasting only upon bread and water. 

and Absu- ^^ 3^ j^ ^^^ Church of Rome, Fasting and Abstinence 
djsiinguish a<^mit of a distinction, and different days are appointed 
edin the for each of them. On their days of Fasting, they are 
Church of allowed but one meal in four and twenty hours : but on 
°"^^* days of Abstinence, provided they abstain from flesh, and 
make but a moderate meal, they are indulged in a colla- 
Whatdays ^^°" ^^ night. The times by them set apart for the first 
appointed are, all Lent, except Sundays, the Ember-days, the Vigils 
for the one of the more solemn feasts, and all Fridays, except those 
o"hlr!"^ that fall within the twelve days of Christmas, and be- 
tween Easter and the Ascension. Theii days of Abstin- 
ence are all the Sundays in Lent, St. Mark's day, if it 
does not fall into Easter-week, the three Rogation-days, 
all Saturdays throughout the year, with the Fridays be- 
st. Mark, foi'C excepted, unless either happen to be Christmas-day. 
whyob- The reason why they observe St. Mark as a day of 
served a^s abstinence if,, as we learn from their own books, in imi- 
Abstinence lation of St. Mark's disciples, the first Christians of Al- 
by the Ro- exaudria, who, under this Saint's conduct, were eminent 
uianibif. fQj. ^],^i,. gpeat prayer, abstinence, and sobriety. They 
farther tell us, that St. Gregory the Great, the Apostle 
of England, first set apart this day for abstinence and 
public prayer, as an acknowledgement of the divine 
mercy in pulling a stop to a mortality in his time at 
Rome.* 

5 See their Practicjil Chtcchism Fa^ts, pages 197, 193. 
npo!) tl.e S ric'ays, Feaslf, and 



and ihdr Collccls, Epistles, and Gospels, 2 1 1 

§^. 4. I do not find that the Church of England makes Introduct. 
any difference between days of Fasting and days of Ab- "^ ~ 
stinence ; it is trne, in the title of the table ol' Vigils, &c. fl'^^'^J^ade' 
she mentions Fasts and Days of Ahutvicuce separately ; in the 
but when she comes to enumerate the particulars, she Church of 
calls them all Days of Fas tin 2 or Abslincnce. without dis- ^"?'''^''^^ 

• I • 1 "^ •'i '^11 I 'at 1 either be- 

linguishmg between the one and the other. iNor does tweendaja 
she any where point out to us what food is proper for ofFastine, 
such times or seasons, or seem to place any part of relig- ^"'^ ^^^y.^ 
ion in abstaining from any particular kinds ofirieat. it ^enct 'or 
is true, by a statute still in force^ , flesh is prohibited on between 



Fast-days : but this is declared to be for a political reas- »"y differ- 

of food. 



on, VIZ, for the increase of Cattle, and for the encour- ^"* 



agement of Fishery and Navigation. jSot but that the 
statute allows that Abstinence is serviceable to virtue, 
and helps to subdue the bodj^ to the mind: but the dis- 
tinction of clean and unclean meats determined, it says, 
with the Mosaic Law : and therefore it sets forth, that 
days and meats are in themselves all of the same nature 
and quality as to moral consideration, one not having a- 
ny inherent holiness above the other. And for this rea- 
son it is that our Church as I have said, no where makes 
any ditierence in the kinds of meat: but, as far as she 
determines, she seems to recommend an entire Absti- 
nence from all manner of food till the time of Fasting be 
over; declaring in her Hom.ilies', that Fastivg (by the 
decree of the six hundred and thirty fathers, assembled at 
the Council ofChalcedon, rvhich was one of the four first 
general Councils, -who grounded their determination upon the 
sacred Scriptures, and long continued usage or practice both 
of the Prophets and other godly persons before the coming of 
Christ ; and also of the Apostles and other devout men in the 
JS''ew Testament) is a luithholding of meat, drink, and all nat- 
ural fo^d from the body, for the dtterniined time of Fasting, 

§'6. The times she sets apart as proper for this duty "^^hatdsys 
are such as she finds have been observed with Fasting ^g falls? 
and Abstinence by the earliest ages of the Church: 
which, besides the Vigils above mentioned, are the 
forty days oj Lent^ the Ember-days at the four seasons, 
the three Rogationrdays and all Fridays in the year, except 
Christmas-day. 

§. 6. Every one of these seasons (except the Friday- Friday, 
Fast only) will come in turn to be spoken to hereafter ; ^^^' °^' 

J ^ iT ' ferved as 

6 Fn (he second and (Iiird of 7 See the first part of the Ser- 
King Edw. VI. c. 19. moa of Fasting, 



212 Of the Sundays and Holy -days, 

Ghap. V. and therefore I shall wave saying -iny thing further to 
^ them here; and shall only observe oi Friday in partic?:- 

lar, that it was always observed by the primitive Chris- 
tians as a day of Fasting, who thought it wry proper to 
humble themselves on the same day weekly, on which 
the blessed Jesvs humbltd himself once, even lo the death of 
the Cross^for us miserable sinners. 

VII. Of the Collects, EpistleSy and Gospels in general 

Church of All the days above mentioned, as well Fasts as Festi- 
Enffiand vals, the Church of England still requires us to observe, 
observes jn such manner as may answer the end for which they 
these days y^^y^ appointed. To this end she always enlarges her 
ordinary devotions, adding particular lessons on most of 
them, proper Psalms on some, and the Communion Of- 
fice on all. The proper Lessons and Psalms 1 shall 
take notice of, when 1 come to treat of the particular 
days on which they are appointed : but because there 
are a Collect, Epistle and Gospel appointed for every 
Sunday and Holy-day throughout the year ; it is requi- 
site J should first speak of them in general, and show 
their antiquity as well as their suitableness to the days 
they belong to. And first of their antiquity. 
. §. 2. That most of our Collects are very ancient, ap- 
quitv,&c. pf'ars by their conformity to the Epistles and Gospels, 
of the Col- which are thought to have been selected by St. Jeroni, 
lects. and put into the Lectionary by him : For which reason 

many believe that the Collects also were first framed by 
him. It is certain that Gelaeius, who was Bishop of 
Rome A. D. 492, ranged the Collects, which were then 
used, into order, and added some new ones of his own^: 
which office was ag^in corrected by Pope Gregory the 
Great in the year GOO, whose Sacramentary contains 
most of the Collects we now^ use. But our Reformers 
observing tliat some of these Collects were afterwards 
corrupted by superstitious aitcr;ttions and additions, and 
that others were quite left out of the Roman Missals, and 
entire new ones, relating to their present innovations, ad- 
ded in their room ; they therefore examined every Col- 
lect strictly, and where they found any of them corrupt- 
ed, there they corrected them; where any new ones had 
been inserted, they restored the old ones; and lastly, at 
the Restoration, every Collect was again reviewed, when 

8 See Dr. Comber's History of Liturgies, Part It. *. 14. page 68. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 213 

whatsoever was deficient was supplied, and all that was Introduci. 
but improperly expressed, rectified. The several alter- 
ations both then and at the Reformation shall be noted 
heieafter in their proper places: in the meanwhile I 
shall proceed to give the like general account of the E- 
pistics and Gospels. 

§. 3. 1 have already hinted, that they are thought to q,^j%*^f' 
have been at first selected by St. Jerom, and put into the ^^e Epis- 
Leclionary by him. Jt is certain that they were very an- ties and 
ciently appropriated to the days whereon we now read Gospels, 
them ; since they are not only of general use throughout 
the whole Western Church, but are also commented up- 
on in the homilies of several ancient fathers, w^hich are 
said to have been preached upon those very days, to 
which these portions of Scripture are now affixed. So 
that they have most of them belonged to the same Sun- 
days and Holy-days we now use them on. for above 
twelve hundred years; as I might easily show also from 
several authorities^. 

§. 4. In all the old Common Prayer Books, except the ^" ^\^^^ 
Scotch one, the Epistles and Gospels were taken out of 1^^"'°"^ 
the Great Bible, neither of the two last translations being used, 
extant when the Common Prayer was first compiled. 
But in regard of the many defects which were observed 
in that version, and upon the petition of the Presbyterian 
commissioners at the Savoy conference, the commission- 
ers on the Church side concluded that all the Epistles and 
Gospels should be used according to the last translation^^ 

6. 5. The other variations that have been made in P'®''' ^f" 
them, at and since the Reformation, shall be taken notice niethod. 
of as I go along; I shall only observe farther in this place, 
in relation to th«m in general, in what admirable order 
and method they are appointed, and what special rela- 
tion they bear to the several days whereon they are read. 

The whole year is distinguished into two parts : the 
design of the first being to commemorate Christ's living 
amongst us; the other to instruct us to live after his ex- 
ample. The former takes in the whole i'lme from Advent 
to Trinity-Sunday ; for the latter are all thef Sundays/rom 
Trimly to Advent, The first part being conversant about 
the life of our Saviour, and the mysteries of his divine 
dispensation : therefore beginning at Advent, we first eel- 

9 Vid.Liturg. S. Jacob. S.Clem, ings of the CommiMioners, 1661, 
S. Baiil. Walefrid. Strab. de Reb. page 15, or in Baxter''s Narrative, 
Eccl. c. 22. p. 318, and the p.-iperc that passed 

10 Account of all tiic proceed- between tl.eComniiMioucrs,|). 129. 



214 Oftht Sundays and Holy-days, 

6hap. V. ebrale his Incarnation in general, and after that in their 
' order the several particulars of it: such as were his J^a- 

tivity, Ciraimcision, and Manifestation to the Gentiles ; his 
Doclrineznd Miracles, his Baptism, Fasting, and Tempta- 
tion ; his Agony and bloody Sweat ; his Cross and Passion ; 
his precious Death and Burial ; his glorious Resurrection 
and Ascension ; and h\s sending the Holy Ghost to comfort 
lis. During all this time the chief end and design of the 
Epistles and Gospels is to make us remember with thank- 
ful hearts what unspeakable benefits we receive from the 
Father, first by his Son, and then by his Holy Spirit ; 
for which wc very aptly end this part of the year with 
giving praise and glory to the whole blessed Trinity. 

The second part of the year, (which comprehends all 
the whole lime from Trinity Sunday to Advent,) 1 observed 
is to instruct us to lead our lives after our Lord's exam- 
ple. For having in the first part of the year learned the 
mysteries of our religion, we are in the second to practise 
what is agreeable to the same. For it concerns us, not 
only to know that we have no other foundation of our re- 
ligion, than Christ Jesus our Lord ; but farther also to 
build upon this foundation such a life as he requires of us. 
And therefore as the first part ends with Pentecost,where'! 
on we commemorate a new law given us in our hearts 5 
so the second is to begin with the practice of that law : 
for which reason such Epistles and Gospels are appoint- 
ed, as maj^ most easily and plainly instruct and lead us 
in the true paths of Christianity; that so those who are re- 
generated by Christ, and initiated in his faith, may know 
what virtues to follow, and what vices to eschew. 
The Col- §. 6. This I take to be a proper place to speak to the 
lect, Fpis- rubric which directs, that </ie Co//ec/, Epistle, and Gospel 
^\]f appoinrtedfor the Sunday shall serve all the week after, where 
the Sun- «^ ^^ "oi in this bjok otherwise ordered^^. The principal oc- 
day, to casion of which provision, I suppose, w^as a rubric at the 
perve for end of the Communion Office, in the first book of King 
afterwardi. Edward VI. which ordered, that upon Wednesdays and 
Fridays, though there were none to communicate with the 
Priest, yet (aftfr the Litany endtd) the Priest should put up- 
OH him a plain Alb, or Surplice., with a Ccpe, and say all 
things at the Altar (appoinUd to be said at the celebration of 
the Lord^s Supper) until after the Offertory, — And that the 
same order should be used all other days, whensoever the Pco- 

11 See the Ia=t Rubric in the order hoTV (he rest cf the holy Scripi 
ture is appointed to be read. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 215 

pie accustomably assembled to pray in the Church, and none I ntrodugt. 
disposed to communicate with him. But though this custom " 
be now laid aside, yet the direction above mentioned is 
still of use to us, if either at a Marriage, or at the Church* 
ing of a Woman^ (at both which times a Communion is 
prescribed by the rubric as convenient,) or upon any 
other such like occasion, the Sacrament be administered : 
-at which times we are ordered by the rubric I am speak- 
ing of to use the same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel as were 
used the Sunday before, where it is not otherwise ordered in 
this book. Before the last review it was said, except there 
fall some feast that hath its proper, i. e. except there fall Except 
some Holy-day in the week which has a Collect, Epistle, some Ho- 
and Gospel of its own ; or, as it is worded in the Scotch jy-^^J . 
Liturgy, except there fall some feast that hath its proper Col- the^^eek? 
led, Epistle, and Gospel ; as it is on Ash-Wednesday, and on 
every day in the holy week next before the Pasch or Easter: 
in which case the Sunday Collect, Epistle and Gospel, 
are to give place to the proper Collects, Epistles, and 
Gospel for that day. And this to be sure is part of what 
is intended by the rubric, as it stands now. Though the 
design I suppose of altering the last words into, where it is 
not in this book otherwise ordered, was for a direction also ^^ ^^^^ 
at such times as a new season begins between one Sunday new seasom 
and another, as it happens upon Ash-Wednesday and As- begins. 
cension-day. In which case the services of those days be- 
ing placed between the services for the Sundays imme- 
diately before and after ; I take that to be an order that 
the Collect, &;c. for the foregoing Sunday shall be thea 
left off, and the Collect, &c. for the Holy-day shall suc- 
ceed as the service for the remaining part of the week. 
Which is exactly agreeable to an express rubric after 
the Gospel for Ash-Wednesday in the Scotch Liturgy, 
which enjoins that/roHi Ash-Wednesday to the first Sunday 
in Lent, shall be used the same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, 
whichwere used on Ash- Wednesday. 

§. 7, In the first Common Prayer Book of Kin^ Ed- Two Gom- 
ward VI. there were two Collects, Epistles, and Gospels Jp;"^^^;'^^ ^^ 
appointed for Christmas-day and Eastcr^day, one to be chrisUrfas 
used at thc^r^f Communion, the other at the second: for andEaster. 
the churches not affording room enough upon those high 
festivals for all to communicate at once that were willing 
to come ; therefore the Sacrament was ordered (o be re- 
peated, and a different service appointed for each solem- 
nity. As to a double Communion, the practice is ancient: 
lor we find that Pope Leo, writing to Dioscorus Bishop 



216 



Of the, Sundays and Holy-days, 



Double 
Commu- 
nions on 
the same 
day an an- 
cient prac 
tice. 



Chap. V. of Alexandria, advised,that where the Churches were too 
small to admit all that were desirous to commuiiicaie at 
once ; the Priests should administer two or three Com- 
munions in one day, that so, they who could not get 
room to offer themselves the first time, might have an op- 
portunity of doing it afterwards. Convinced by this au- 
thority, Bucer afterwards retracted an exception he had 
made against having two Communions in one day**; 
though in the second review of the Liturgy under King 
Edward, one of these services was laid aside, not, I sup- 
pose, with intent to forbid a reception of the Sacrament, 
if the Minister should see occasion to administer it twice; 
but only that, as the congregation at each time is suppos- 
ed to be different, therefore the same service should be 
used for both. 



VIII. Of Introits in general, 

1 SHOULD now proceed to give the reasons of the 
choice of the several Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, 
and to show their suitableness to the days they belong 
to. But because to do this it is necessary I should show 
what particular blessings the Church commemorat s it 
those several times, on which they are prescribed ; I 
shall descend to particulars, and first give a short ac- 
count of the several Sundays and Holy-days, as they 
stand in order, and then show how these portions of 
Scripture are to be applied to the day. 

But first I shall take this opportunity to observe, that 
in the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward VL 
before every Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, there is a 
Psalm printed, which contains something prophetical of 
the Evangelical history used upon each Sunday and 
Holy-daj^, or is some way or other proper to the day : 
which from its being sung or said, while the Priest made 
his entrance within the rails of the Altar, was called In- 



Introits, 
what they 
Avere, and 
bow an- 
cient. 



troitus or latroit^^. But in the second edition of King Ed^ 

n Script. Angelican. pag. 465, & 495. 

13 The Introits for every Sunday and Holy-day throughout the year. 



1. Sunday in Advent, P.mZ/Ti 1 

2. — ~ _ 120 

3. - - - 4 

4. — — — 5 
Christmas-day. At the first Com- 
munion, — 98 


St. John (he Evangelist, 
Innocents-day, — 
Sunday after Christmas-day, 
Circumcision, — — 
Epipiiany. — — 
1. Sunday after Epiphany, 


It 

79 

121 

122 

96 

13 

14 

16 

9 


nmnion, — — 8 
St. Stephen, -^ ^ 50 



and their Collects, Episths, and Gospels. 21 7 

ward's book it was laid aside; though the reason they Introduct. 
had for doing so is not easily assigned. For it is very " ^ 
certain that the use of Introits to begin the Communion 
Office was notonl}^ unexceptionable, but of great anti- 
quity in the Church ; Durand proving that they were 
taken into divine service before the time of St. Jerome". 
And it is plain that they would still have been very use- 
ful, since the want of them is forced to be supplied by 
the singing of Anthems in Cathedrals, and part of a 
Psalm in Metre in Parish Churches. And therefore I 
cannot but think, it would have been much more decent 
for us to have been guided by the Church what Psalms 
to have vised in that intermediate time, than to stand to 

14 DeRit. Eccl. 1. 7. c. 11. 



Q > Sundays after Epiphany, 

Septuagesima-Sunday, 
Sexagesima, — — 
Qainquagesima, — 

Ash-Wednesdayi — 

1. Sunday in Lent, — 

2. — _ — 

3. — >_ ^ 



Psalm 



20 

23 
24 
26 
6 
32 
130 
43 
46 
54 
61 
22 
89 



Sunday next before Easter, 
Good Friday, — — 
E*ster-even, — 
Easter-day. At the first Commu 
nion, — — 16 

At the second Commu- 

3 

62 

113 

112 



nion, — — 

Monday in Easter- Week, 
Tuesday in Ea»ter-Week, 

1. Sunday after Easter, 

2. — — 70 

3. -. — 75 

4. -. -^ 83 

5. __ _ 84 
Ascension-day, — 47 
Sunday after Ascension day, 93 
Whitsunday, — — 33 
Monday in Whitsun-Week, 100 
Tuesday in Whitsun-Week, 101 
Trinity Sunday, — 67 



Sunday after Trinity, Part 1 119 



2 
3 
4 
5 

7 

Cc 



P*alm 

8. Sunday afterTrinity.Part 8 119 

9. _- _ 9 

10. — — 10 

11. — — n 

12. -- — 12 

13. — ~ 13 

14. — — 14 

15. — — 15 

16. — — 16 

17. — — 17 
1«. — — 18 

19. ^ — 19 

20. — — 20 

21. — —SI 
22. 



— — 22 



24. — 

25. — 
St. Andrew, 
St. Thomas, 
Conversion of St. 



Paul. 



124 
125 
127 
129 
128 
13S 



Purification of the blessed Vir- 
gin Mary, — 134 
St. Matthias, — 140 
Annunciation^ — 131 
St. Mark, — — 141 
St. Phillip and St. James, 133 
St. Barnabas, ^~^ 14/z 
St. John the Baptist, 143 
St. Peter, — — 144 
St. Mary Magdalene, 146 
St. James, — I4R 
St. Bartholomew, — 115 
St. Matthew, — 117 
St. Michael and All Angels, 113 
St. Luke the Evangelist, 137 
St. Simon and St. Jude, 150 
All Saints, — 149 



218 



Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 



Chap. V. the direction of every illiterate Parish Clerk, who loo 
~ — often has neither judgment to choose a Psalm proper to 

the occasion, nor skill to sing it so as to assist devotion. 

Sect. I. Of the Sundays in Advent, 

For the greater solemnity of the three principal Holy- 
days, Christmas-day, Easter-day, and Whitsunday^ the 
Church hath appomted certain days to attend them : 
some to go before, and others to come after them. Be- 
fore Christmas are appointed four Advent -Sundays^ so 
called, because the design of them is to prepare us for a 
religious commemoration of the Advent, or coming of 
Christ in the flesh. The Roman ritualists would have 
the celebration of this holy season to be Apostolical, 
and that it was instituted by St. Petcr'^ But the pre- 
cise time of its institution is not so easily to be determin- 
ed : though it certainly had its beginning before the 
year 450, because Maximus Taurinensis, who lived a- 
bout that time, writ a homily upon it. And it is to be 
observed, that for the more strict and religious observa- 
tion of this season, courses of Sermons were formerly 
preached in several Cathedrals on Wednesdays and 
Fridays, as it is now the usual practice in Lent^^ And 
we find by the Salisbury Missal, that before the Re for- 
mation there was a special Epistle and Gospel relating 
to Christ's Advent, appointed for those days during all 
that time. 

§ 2. The Collects for the first and second Sundays in 
Advent were made new in 1549, being first inserted in the 
first bijok of King Edward VI, That for the third Sun- 
day was added at the Restoration in the room of a very 
short one not so suitable to the time*. The Collect for 
iht fourth Sunday is the same with what we meet with 
in the most ancient oHices, except that in some of them it 
is appointed for the first Sunday!. 



Advent 
Sundays, 



>Vhy so 
called. 



Jhe anti- 
qoity of 
them. 



Advent 

S>erroons 
formt-rly 
preached. 



The Col- 
lects. 



15 ?>urnvid. Rational. rib.6.cap, 
2. numb, 2, foi. 2J5. 

J6 btir; J)r. G'eenvil'p Sermon, 
preached in t|jf cathcflral ol Dur 
jiari'^upoii thf^ revival of theancient 



and laudable practice of that and 
some other Cathedrals, in having 
Strmoiis on Wednesdriysana Fri- 
daj 8 in Advent and Lent. Quar- 
to, 1686. 



* The old Collect was this. Lord, we beseech thee, give ear 
to our Prayers^ and by thy gracinv^ visitation lighten the dark" 
Tipss of Our hearts', by our L<rd Jesus Christ, Amen. 

t The Vv'ords (thrimgh the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord J 
were first added in the Scotch Liturgy. 



and tluir Colkcls, E'plstUs^ and Gospels. 219 

The Episilcs and Gospel's appointed on these days are Sect^lL 

all very ancient and very proper to the time : they as- ~ , . 

•/ ^ . , r Ai ■ • c ^ -17 1 Epistles 

sure us of the truth of Christ s hr*t conungi^ ; and as a and Gosi 

proper njeans to brino; our lives to a conformity with the pels, 
end and design of it, they recomnfiended to us the con- 
siderations of his second coming, when he will execute 
viengeance on all ihose that oi)ey not his Gospei^^ 

§. 3. It is worth observing in this place, that it is the Why the 
peculiar computation of the Church, to begin her year, ^j'^"''her^^° 
and to renew the annua), course of her service, at this ^ "^r at 
time of Advent, therein ditieringfrom all other accounts Adveut, 
of time whatsoever. The reason of which is, because 
she does not nu nber her days, or measure her seasons, 
so much by the motion of the Sun, as by the course of 
our Saviour ; beginning and counting on her 3'^ear with 
him, who being the true Sun of Righteousness., began now 
to rise upon the world, and, as the Day-star on high, to 
enlighten them that sat in spiritual darkness. 

Sect. IT. Of the Ember-Weeks. 

The first season of the Ember-days falling after the ^^1%^ ^''° 
third Sunda}'- in Advent, I shall take this opportunity them. 
to speak a word or two of them ,• which are certain days 
set apart for the consecrating to God the four seasons 
of the year, and for the imploring his blessing by fasting 
and prayer, upon the ordinations performed in the church 
at those times ; in conformity to the practice of the Apo- 
stles, who, when they separated persoas for the work of 
the niinistry, prayed and fasted, before they laid on their 
hands^^ It is true at the first planting of the Gospel, 
Orders were conferred at any time, as there vvas occasion: 
but as soon as the Church vvas settled, the Ordination of 
Ministers was affised to certain set times, vi^hich Was the 
first original of these four weeks of fasting. n 

§. 2. They are called Ember- Weeks (as some think)' Why ?d 
from a German word which imports Abstinence : though ^* ^ 
others are of the opinion that they are so called, because 
it was customary among the ancients to express their hu- 
miliation at those seasons of fasting, by sprinkling ashes 
upon their heads, or sitting on them ; arid when they 
broke their fasts on siich days to eat only cakes baked 

17 EpisUe and Gospel for Sunday Sunday 4. 
1. Epistle forSunday 2 Gospel for 18 Gospel for ^uncby 2. and 3, 

Sunday 3. Epistle and Craspel for 19 Acts xiii. 3, 



220 Oftht Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chmp. V. upoj^ Embers, which were therefore called Ember-Bread. 
'"'""■ But the most probable conjecture is that of Dr. Mares- 
chal, who derives it from a Saxon word, importing a 
Circuit or Course; so that these fasts being not occasional 
but returning every year in certain courses, may prop- 
erly be said to be Ember days, i. e, fasts in course^^. 
At what §. 3. They were formerly observed in several church- 
times ob- gg ^^-jth some variety^^, but were at last settled by the 
*^"'^ * council of Placentia, A. D. 1095, to be the Wednesday, 
Friday, and Saturday,after the first Sunday in Lent, after 
Whitsunday, after the fourteenth of September, which 
was then observed as the feast of Holy Cross, and the 
thirteenth of December, which was then also observed 
in remembrance of St. Lucy^^. 
Why ordi- ^. 4. The reasons why the Ordination of Ministers are 
fixedTo^^^ fixed to these set times of fasting, are these : first, that as 
these 9II men's souls are concerned in the ordaining a fit Clergy 
times. so all may join in fasting and prayer for a blessing upon 
it : secondly, that both Bishops and Candidates, knowing 
the time, may prepare themselves for this great work: 
thirdly, that no vacancy may remain long unsupplied: 
lastly, that the people, knowing the times, may, if they 
please, be present, either to approve the choice made by 
the Bishop, or to object against those whom they know ta 
be unworthy ; which primitive privilege is still reserved 
to the people in this well constituted Church* 

Sect. III. Of Christmas-day, 

How early TTHOUGH the learned in most ages have differed con- 
in th7^*^ cerning the day and month of our Saviour's Nativity : 
Church, yet we are certain that the festival was very early observ- 
ed in the primitive Church. And if the day was mistak- 
en, yet the matter of the mistake being of no greater 
moment than the false calculation of a day ; it will 
certainly be very pardonable in those who perform the 
business of the festival, with as much piety and devo- 
tion as they could do, if they certainly knew the time. 
The ser- §• '^* -^"^ ^^^^ ^^ °"^ ^^Y ^ant an opportunity to ce- 
lice for lebrate so great a festival with a suitable solemnity, the 
the day. Church both excites and assists our devotion, by an ad- 
mirable frame of office fitted to the day. In the first 

20 In his observations upon the upon Question 16,in Johnson'sEc- 
.Siixon Go)-pe)F, pages 52.8, 529. clesiastical Laws, A. D. 734. 

21 See the Antwcw of Ecbright 22 Concil, torn, x, col. 502- B. 



and their Collects, EpistUi, itncl Gospels. 221 

Lessons" she reads to us the clearest prophecies of Sect. IIL 
Christ's coining in the flesh ; and in the second Lessons'*, 
Epistle, and Gospel, shows us the completion of those 
prophecies, by giving us the entire history of it. In the 
collect she teaches us to pray, that we may be partakers 
of the benefit of his Birth, and in the proper Psalms she 
sets us to our duty of praising and glorifying God for 
this incomprehensible mystery. 

The Epistle and Gospel are the same that were used in The Col. 
the most ancient Liturgies ; but the Collect was made \^|^*' Jjfj" 
new in 1 549. In the first book of King Edward VL they Gospel, 
are appointed for the second Communion, which I sup- 
pose was the principal one : since the first was probably 
more early in the morning, for the benefit of servants 
and others who could not attend at the usual time. The 
Collect for the first Communion was different from what 
we now use*, as were also the Epistle and Gospel ; the 
Epistle beginning Tit. ii. ver. 1 1, to the end ; the Gospel, ^ 

Luke ii. to ver. 15, the last of which we now read for the 
second Lesson in the Morning Service. m. 

§. 3. The Psalms for the Morning are Psalms xiy. xlv» pgaimg. 
Ixxxv, The xixth was chiefly designed to give glory to 
God for all his works of power and excellence : the be- 
ginning of it, viz. The heavens declare the glory of God, t^c, 
is extraordinary applicable to the day : for at the birth 
of Christ a new star appeared, which declared his glory 
and Deity so plainly, that it fetched wise men from the 
East to come and worship him. The following verses all 
set forth God's goodness, in giving so excellent a rule of 
life to men, and in warning us of the great danger of pre- 
sumptuous sins. The xlvth Psalm is thought to be an 
epithalamium, or marriage song, upon the nuptials of 
Solomon and the king of Egypt's daughter ; but it is mys- 
tically, and in a most eminent sense, applicable to the 
union between Christ and his church. The Ixxxvth Psalm 
was principally set for the birth of Christ ; and so the 



* The Collect for the first Communioa in King Edward's 
first book was this : God^ which makest us glad with the year- 
ly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ ; 
grant, that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we 
may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be 
9Ur Judge, who liveth and reigneth , 4'C , 

23 Isa. ix, to ner, 8. Qhap, vii. 24 Luke ii. to ver. 15. Tit. iii. 

ver. 10. to f er. 17. ver. 4. to vtr. 9. 



222 Of the Sundays and Huly-days, 

ebap. V. primitive Christians understood it ; and therefore chose 
it as a part of their office for this day, as being proper and 
pertinent to the matter of the feast. The prophet indeed 
speaks of it as a thing past, but that is no more than what 
is usual in all prophecies : for by speaking of things after 
that manner, they signified their prophecies should as- 
surely come to pass, as if what they had foretold had 
already happened^*. 

The Evening Psalms are Psalms Ixxxix. ex. cxxxii. 
The Ixxxixth is a commemoration of the mercies per- 
formed and promised to be continued to David and his 
posterity to the end of the world. The greatest of which 
mercies, "sji^. the Birth of the Messiah, the Church this 
day celebrates ; and therefore appoints this Psalm to ex- 
cite us to thanksgiving for such an inestimable mercy, by 
showing us how only the bare promise of it, so many ages 
since, wrought upon the saints of those times. The cxth 
Psalm is a prophecy of the exaltation of the Messiah to 
his regal and sacerdotal office*®; "both yv'hich are by him 
exercised at the right hand of the Father, and settled on 
him as a reward of his humiliation and passion^^. The 
cxxxiid Psalm seems to have been at first composed by 
Solomon upon the building of the Temple, (part of it being 
used ifi his prayer at the dedication of it^'^.) It recounts 
David's care of the Ark, and his desire to build God a 
Temple, and God's promises thereupon made to him and 
his posterity, of setting his seed upon the throne till the 
coming of Christ. 

Sect, IV. Of the days of St, Stephen., St, Jchn^ and 
the Innocents, 

The and- THAT the observation of these days is ancient, we 
qmty of [jave the testimonies of-several very ancifent writers^ 
'^"*' who all assure us that they were celebrated in the prim- 
itive times. 
Why ob- ^. 2. The placing of them immediately after Christmas 
ynelltatX' ^^y^ ^^^ ^^ intimate as is supposed, that none are thought 
afierChrist fitter attendants on Christ's Nativity, than those blessed 
mas-day j Martyrs, who have not scrupled to lay down their tem- 

25 Act? ii. 30, 31. 29 OH?. Horn. S.in Divers.part. 

26 Matt, xxii.44. Acts ii. 34. 2, p. 282. G. Aug. in Natal. Steph. 
1 Cor. XV. 25. Heb. i 13. Martyris, Serin. ^3U. torn. v. coJ, 
2r Phil. li. «, 9. 1260. B. Chrys. in S. Stephanura, 
2» 2 Chron. vi. 41, 42. Orat. ^35, 136. torn. v.p.864,&c, 

ct alibi. 



and their Colhds, Evistles^ and Gospels. 223 

poral lives for him, from whose Incarnation and Birth Sect. IV . 
ihey receive life eternal. And accordingly we may ob- ^^ ,^ ^^^ 
serve, that as there are three kinds of martyrdom, the first ^"^gj^^jj^y 
both in Will and in deed, which is the highest ; the sec- are placed, 
ond in the will, but not in Deed ; the third in Deed, but 
not in Will ; so the Church commemorates these martyrs 
in the same order : St. Stephen, first, who suffered death 
both in Will and in Deed ; St. John the Evangelist next, 
who suffered martyrdom in Will, but notin Deed ; being 
miraculously delivered out of a cauldron of burning oil, 
into which he was put before Port Latin in*°Rome; the 
holy Innocents last, who suffered in Deed, but not in 
Will: for though they were not sensible upon what ac- 
count they suffered, yet it is certain that they suffered for 
the sake of Christ; since it was upon the account of his 
birth that their lives were taken away. And besides, 
wheresoever their story shall be told, the cause also of 
their deaths will be declared and made known : for which 
reason they cannot be denied, even in the most proper 
sense, to be true martyrs or witnesses of Christ. 

Mr. UEstrange^^ imagines another reason for the or- 
der of these days. He supposes St. Stephen is commem- 
orated first, as being the first Martyr for Christianity : 
that St. John has the second place, as being tht DiscipU 
which Jesus loved: and that the Innocents are commem- 
orated next, because their slaughter was the firrt consid- 
erable consequence of our Saviour's birth. To this he 
adds another conjecture, viz. " That Martyrdom, Love, 
"■and Innocence are first to be magnified, as wherein 
"Christ is most honoured." 

§. 3. The collects for the days of St. Stephen, and the Their Col- 
holy Innocents, were made new at the Restoration; and I^*'^^? ^F' 
that for St. John was somewhat altered*. But the Epis- 'q^^^^^^ 

.so Tort, de Pr8escript,Haeret.c. 31 Alliance of Divine Offices, 
86. p. 215. A. p. 137. Lond. 1690. 



* The old Collect for St. Stephen's day was this: Grant 
us^ O Lord^ to learn to love our enemies by thf example of thy 
Martyr Saint Stephen^ who prayed for his persecutors to thee, 
which livest and reignest, 4i'C. 

In the Collect for St. John's day, after the words, Evan- 
gelist Saint John, followed, may attain to thy everlasting gifts, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

■ The Collect for Innocents day was as follows : Almighty 
God, whose praise this day the young Innocents thy witnesses 



22.4 Of (he Sundays and Holy-dayX, 

etiap. V. ties and Gospels for all these days are the same that w* 
- meet vviih in the oldest offices ; excepting that the Epis- 
tle for St. John was first inserted at the Reformation, 
instead of a lesson out of the xxvthof Ecclesiasticns. 

The reasons of their choice are very plain. On St. 
Stephen's day the Epistle gives us an account of his mar- 
tyrdom, atid the Gospel assures us, that his blood, and 
the blood of all those that have suffered for the name of 
Christ, shall be required at the hands of those that shed 
it. On St. John's day both the Epistle and the Gospel 
are taken out of his own writings, and very aptly answer 
to one another : the Epistle contains St. John's testimo- 
ny of Christ, and the Gospel Christ's testimony of St. 
John : the Gospel seems applicable to the day, as it 
commemorates this Evangelist ; but the Epistle seems to 
be chosen upon account of its being an attendant upon 
the preceding more solemn festival. On the Innocents 
day the Gospel contains the history of the bloody mas- 
sacre committed by Herod ; and for the Epistle is read 
part of the xivth chapter of the Revelation, shewing the 
glorious state of those and the like Innocents in heaven. 

Sect. V. Of ihe Sunday after Chrisimas-day, , 

Octaves ^^ ^'^^ ^ custom among the primitive Christians to 
formerly observe the Octave, or eighth day after their principal 
©bserved. feasts, with great solemnity, (the reasons whereof shall be 
given in speaking of the particular Prefaces in the Com- 
munion Office hereafter ;) and upon every day between 
the feast and the Octave, as also upon tlie Octave itself, 
they used to repeat some part of that service which was 
performed upon the feast itself. In imitation of which 
religious custom, this day generally falling within the 
Octave of Christmas-day, the Collect then used is re- 
peated now; and the Epistle and Gospel still set forth the 
mysteries of cur redemption by the birth of Christ. Be- 
fore the Reformation, instead of the present Gospel, was 
read Luke ii. vcr. 33, to vcr. 41. But then the first of St. 
Matthew was appointed, which is still retained ; excepting 
that the first seventeen verses, relating to our Saviour's 
genealogy, were left out at the Restoration. 

have confessed and sho'wedforth^ not in speaking but in dying ; 
mortify and kill all vices in us^ that in »ur conversation or 
life we may express thy faith^ wkich with our tongues we do 
eonfessj through Jesus Christ our Lord^ Amen. 



and tluir Colkcts^ Epistles^ and Gospels. 225 

Sect. VI. 
Sect. VI. Of the Circumcision. 

This feast is celebrated by the Church, to commemo- J/^^^^ff 'Sn 
rate the active obedience of Jesus Christ in fuifilling all jg^gt. 
righteousness, which is one branch of the meritorious 
cause of our Redemption ; and by that means abrosjating 
the severe injunction.s of the Mosaical establishment, and 
putting us under the easier terms of the Gospel. 

§. 2. The observation of this feast is not of very great The anti- 
antiquity : the first mention of it under this dtle is in Ivo q^^^yof't* 
Carnotensis, who lived about the year 1090, a little be- 
fore St. Bernard, which latter has also a sermon upon it. 
In Isidore, and other more early writers, it is mentioned 
under the name of the Octave of Christmas.* The reason 
why it was not then observed as the feast of the Circum- 
cision, was probal)ly because it fell upon the calends of 
January, which was celebrated among the heathens with 
so much disorder and revellings, and other tokens of 
idolatry, that St. Chrj^sostom calls it eoprt,v ^ixQoMktjv, the 
deviPs festival. For which reason the sixth general 
council absolutely forbade the observation of it among 
Christians'^. 

§. 3. The proper services are all very suitable to the The Les- 
day. The first lesson for the Morning gives an account sons, Epi- 
of the institution of Circumcision; and the Gospel of the GoTpela*. 
Circumcision of Christ : the first Lesson at Evening, and 
the second Lessons and Episde, all tend to the same end, 
viz. that since the Circumcision of the flesh is now abro- 
gated, God hath no respect to persons, nor requires any 

♦The 6r?t paragraph in this section, is a transcript from Nichols ; 
the second from Hauion L'Estrans;e. Shepherd remarks this with that 
asperity which is usual to him whenever he speaks of Wheatly ; ob- 
serving; that whereas L^Estraiige modestly said, *' I dare not affix any- 
remote aniiqiiity to this Holy-day" — Wheatly roundly affirms, that 
" its ob?ervation is not of very g-reat antiquity." Shepherd on the 
other hand says, " that in the sixth century, at latest a special and ap- 
propriate office was provided for this festival as is proved by the act? 
of the second council of Tours, (A D. 567.) The seventeenth can- 
on of that council orders the office for the circumcision to be perform- 
ed on the 6rst. of January at eight in the morning. As the two festi- 
vals of the circumcision of Clirist and the Octave of the nativity neces- 
sarily fell upon one and the same day, and as the Octave was observ- 
ed with extraordinary solemnity, the day would naturally receive its 
general denomination from the Octave, and not from the circumci- 
eion.''* Sliepherd vol. ii. p. 44—6. Am. Eb. ^ 

32 Concil. Trull. Can. 62. 

Dp 



226 Of the Sundays and Holy -days, 

Chap. V. more of us than the Circumcision of the heart. The 
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day were all first 
inserted in 1549. 

Sect. VII. Of the Epiphany, 

Epiphany, 1 HE word £jo?/9/ictn^ in Greek signifies Manifestation^ 
whatitsig- and was at first used both for Christmas-da j, v\hen 
nifies. Christ was manifested in the flesh, afid for this day, (to 

which it is now more properly appropriated.) when he 
was manifested by a star to the Gentiles : from which 
identity of the word, some have concluded that the feasts 
of Christmas-day and the Epiphany were one and the 
same : but that they were two different feasts,* observed 
upon two several days, is plain from many of the fa- 
thers'^ 
The an- But besides this common and more useful name, we 

cient fifid ^yo other titles given to it by the ancients, viz. rk 

of k^ ^^^'^^ (parofi^^j the day of the Holy-Lights ; and rec Gse^umu, 

the Theophany^ or Manifestation of God^^, The first 
name was given it, as being a day whereon they com- 
memorated the baptism of Christ, who from that time 
became a Light to those that sat in darkness ; upon 
which account this day was as solemn for baptizing the 
catechumens among the Latins, as Easter and Whitsun- 
tide among the Greeks.! And for the greater solemnity 
of so high a festival, it was the custom to adorn the pub- 
lic churches with a great number of lights and tapers, 
when they came to perform the service of the day. The 

33 A«g. Serm. 102. torn, v.coj. 34 Gree. Naz. in Sanct. Lum. 

914. F. Greg;.Naz.in S.Lum.Orat. 35 Epiph. Orat. in Ascens. Do- 

39. torn. i. p. 624. &c. et alii. mini. 

* Shepherd is correct in asserting that WheatJjis mistaken in afBrm- 
ing that Christmas and Epiphany were alwajs two different feasts 
upon different day?. Bingham say?, that the greatest part of the Eas- 
tern Church for three or four of the first ages kept the feast of Christ^s 
Nativity on the same day which is now called Epiphany. In the west- 
ern Church the Nativity and Epiphany were, it is probable, always ob- 
served on two distinct days. Am. Ed. 

f Wheatly appears to be again mistaken in afSrming that the Epiph- 
anv was a solenin time of Baptism among the Latins. The Greeks 
arui Africans administered public Btiptism at the Epiphany, but the 
Latin, Spanish and Gallican Churches did not. The only solemn times 
of adiil Baptism among the Latins were Easter and Whitsuntide, in- 
cluding the intervening 50 days. See Bingham 13. XI. Chap. vi. 

Am. Ed. 



and their Colkcls. Epistles, and Gospels. 227 

' ^ ' ^ Sect. VII. 



reason of the other name is very plain, the feast being 
instituted in commemoration of the first manifestations 
of our Saviour's divinity. 

§. 2. The principal design of the Church's celebrating The feast 
this feast, is to show our gratitude to God, in manifesting ^^'^j *" , 
the Gospel to the Gentile world, and vouchsafing to them instituted, 
equal privileges with the Jews, who had been all along 
his peculiar people ; the first instance of which divine fa- 
vour was in declaring the birth of Christ to the v/ise men 
of the East. 

§. 3. But, in alj, there are three great manifestations of The mani- 
our Saviour commemorated on this day ; all which, St. fe«tations 
Chrysostom tells us, happened on the same day, though conjmem- 
not in the same year : the first of which was what 1 just orated, 
now mentioned, viz. his manifestation by a Star, which 
conducted the wise men to come and worship him, which 
we commemorate in the Collect and Gospel. The second rp. t 
manifestation was that of the glorious Irmitj' at his bap- sons, Col- 
tism, mentioned in the second Lesson at Morning Prayer, lect, Epi- 
The second Lesson at Evening Service contains the p}^-> ^"*^ j 
third, which was the manifestation of the Glory and Di- '^^^ ' 
vinity of Christ, by his miraculous turning Water into 
Wine. The first Lesson contains prophecies of the in- 
crease of the Church by the abundant access of the 
Gentiles, of which the Epistle contains the completion, 
giving an account of the mystery of the Gospel's being 
revealed to them. The Collect and Gospel for this day 
are the same that were used in the ancient offices; but 
the Epistle was inserted at the first compiling of our Lit- 
urgy, instead of part of the Ixth of Isaiah, which is no\y 
read for the first Lesson in the Morning** 



* In the Common Prayer Book of King James, and down 
to the Restoration, Isaiah the xlth was by mistake (as I pre- 
sume) set down for the Morning first Lesson, instead of the 
Ixth, from whence the same error is continued, in some of 
our present books. The Ixth chapter was undoubtedly de- 
signed, being in all the books of King Edward, Queen Eliza- 
beth, the Scotch Liturgy, and the sealed Book, at the Res- 
toration. And in those books of King James, where the xlth 
chapter first appears in the table of the JiCssons appointed 
for Holy-days, the Ixth chapter stands against the day in the 
calendar. 



228 



Q/* the Sundays and Holy-days^ 



fChap. V. 



'"~ Sect. VIII. Of the Sundays after the Epiphavy, 



The design 
of the E- 
pistle}* and 
Gospels. 



The Col-_ 
lects, Epi 
stl««, and 
Gospels. 



Why so 

called. 



From Christmas to Epiphany, the Church's design in 
ali her proper services, is to set forth the Humanity of 
our Saviour, and to manifest him in the flesh : but from 
the Epiphany to SepLuagesima-Sunday (especially in the 
four following Sundays) she endeavours to manifest his 
Divinity, by recounting to us in the Gospels some of hiS 
first miracles and manifestations of his Deity." The de- 
sign oi the Epistles is to excite us to imitate Christ as 
far as we can, and to manifest ourselves his disciples, by 
a constant practice of all Christian virtues. 

§1 2. The Collects, Episth s, and Gospels for the five 
first Sundays after the Epiphany, are all the same as in 
the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, except that the Col- 
lect for the fourth Sunday was a little amended at the 
Restoration*, and that before the Reformation, the Epis- 
tle for that day was the same with the Epistle for the 
first Sunday in Advent. 

The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the sixth Sunday 
were all added at the last review i till when, if there hap- 
pened to be six Sundays after the Epiphany, the Col- 
lect, Epistle, and Gospel for the fifth Sunday were re- 
peated : though in the Salisbury Missal the service of 
the third Sunday is ordered to be used upon such an oc- 
casion!. 

Sect. IX. Qf Septuagestma^ Sexagesimal and Qumqutt" 

gesima Sundays, 
Among the several reasons given for the names of 
these Sundays, the most probable seems to be this : 
the first Sunday in Lent, being forty days before Easter, 
was for that reason called Quadragesima-Sunday, which 



* The old Collect was this : O God^ which kncweft vs to 
he set in the midst of .so many and great dangers^ that for man's 
frailnesifi we cannot ahvayi^ stand uprightly ; grant to ns the 
health of body and soul^ that all those things which we suffer 
for sin» by thy help we may well pass and overcome., throvgh 
Christ our Lord, Amen. 

t Shfpherd on the contrary says that the Missal of Sarnm has pro- 
per offices for all Uie six Sundays ; and then adds in a note. " tliC rea- 
der may peihaps conclude that either Wheatly or myself never saw a 
Salisbury Missal.'" Am. Ed. 



and their Collecis^ Epislhs, and Gospels, 229 

in Latin signifies forty ; and fifty being the next round Sect.iX. 
ruimber above forty, a.s sixty is to fifty, and seventy to — " 
jsixty ; therefore the Sunday imrncdiatelj^ preceding Qua- 
dragesiraa-Sunday, being farther from Easter than that 
was, was called Quinquagesima (or fifty) Sunday, which 
is also fifty days inclusive before Easter : and the two 
foregoing Sundays, being still farther distant, were for 
the same reason called Sexagcsima and Septuagesima 
(sixty and seventy) Sundays. 

6. 2, The observation of these days and the weeks fol- T*^^ ^l^" 
lowmg appear to be as ancient as tne tmies oi Gregory ti^gj^j, 
the Great. The design of them is to call us back frora 
our Christmas feasting and joy, in order to prepare our- 
selves for fasting and humiliation in the approaching time 
of Lent ; from thinking of the manner of Christ's coming 
into the world, to reflect upon the cause of it, viz, our own 
sins and miseries ; that so being convinced of the reason- 
ableness of punishing and mortyfying ourselves for our 
sins, we may more strictly and religiously apply our- 
selves to those duties when the proper time for them 
comes. Some of the more devout Christians observed 
the whole time from the first of these Sundays to Easter, 
as a season of humiliation and fasting; though the gen- 
erality of the people did not begin their fasts till Ash- 
Wednesday. 

§. 3. The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for these JJ'^l^^p-, 
days are all the same as in the ancient Liturgies, except- Mle.«,'and 
ing only the Collect for Quinquagesima-Sunday, which Gospels, 
was made new, A. D. 1 549. They are all of them plain- 
ly suitable to the times. The Episdes are all three 
taken out of St Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians : the 
two first persuade us to acts of mortification and pen- 
nance, by proposing to us St. Paul's example: but be- 
cause all bodily exercises without charity profit us noth- 
ing ; therefore the Church, in the Epistle for Quinqua- 
gesima-Sunday, recomends charity to us, as a necessary 
foundation for all our other acts of religion. 

The design of the Gospels is much the same with 
that of the Epistles : that for Septuagesima-Sunday tells 
us, by way of parable, that all that expect to be reward- 
ed hereafter, must perform these religious duties now ; 
and to all those who have been so idle as to neglect 
their duties all their life-time hitherto, it affords comfort, 
by assuring them, they may still intitle themselves to a 
reward, if they will now set about them with diligence 
and sincerity. The Gospel for Sexagesima-Sunday, in 



230 



Oftht Sundays and Holy-days, 



Chap. V. another parable, admonishes us to be careful and cir- 
cumspect in the performance of our duty, since there is 
scarce one in four who profess religion, that brings forth 
fruit to perfection. And, lastly, the Gospel for Quin- 
quagesima-Sunday shows us how we are to perform these 
duties ; advising us by the example of the blind beggar 
to add faith to our charity, and to continue incessant in 
our prayers, and not to despair of the acceptance of 
ihem, because we are not immediately heard, but to cry 
so much the more, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy 
on us. 

§. 4. The Tuesday after Quenquagesima-Sunday is ge- 
nerally called Shrove-Tuesday ; a name given it from the 
old Saxon words Shrive, Shrift, or Shrove, which in that 
language signifies to confess ; it being a constant custom 
amongst the Roman Catholics to confess their sins on 
that day, in order to receive the blessed Sacrament, and 
thereby qualify themselves for a more religious observa- 
tion of the holy time of Lent immediately ensuing. But 
this in process of time was turned into a custom of invi- 
tations, and their taking their leave of flesh and other 
dainties ; and afterwards, by degrees, into sports and 
merriments, which still in that Church make up the 
whole business of the Carnival. 



Shrove- 
Tuesday, 
why so 
called. 



Sect. X. Oftht Forty Days in Lent, 



Theneces 
sity of 
some set 
time for 
hunailia- 
tioQ. 



Though it ought to be the constant endeavour of 
a Christain to observe his duty at all times, and to have 
always a great regard to what God requires of him ; yet 
considering the great corruption of the world, and the 
frailty of our nature, and how often we transgress the 
bounds of our duty, and how backward we are to cross 
our fleshly appetites, it is very expedient we should have 
some solemn season appointed for the examining our 
lives, and the exercise of repentance. 

§. 2. And accordingly we find that, from the very first 
The anti- ages of Christianity, it was customary for the Christians 
qiiity of it. tQ set apart some time for mortification and self-denial, 
to prepare themselves for the feast of Easter. Irenaeus, 
who lived but ninety years from the death of St. John, 
and conversed familiarly with St. Polycarp, as Polycarp 
had with St. John, has happened to let us know, though 
incidentally, that as it was observed in his time, so it was 
in that of his predcccssorb^^ 

36 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 5. c. U. p. 192. D. 



and their Collects, Episths, and Gospels. 231 

§. 3. As to its original, the present Lord Bishop of Sect, X. 
Bath and Wells, in his learned Discourse concerning Lent, 



has showed, by very probable arguments, that the ^^''^"Si- 
Christian Lent took its rise from the Jewish preparation 
to their yearly expiation.* He likewise proves out of 
their own writers, that the Jews began their solemn hu- 
miliation forty days before the expiation. Wherefore 
the primitive Christians, following their example, set up 
this fast at the beginning of Christianity, as a proper 
preparative for the commemoration of the great expia- 
tion of the sins of the whole world. 

§. 4. It is true indeed, as to the length of it, the Chris- Variously 
lian Lent was observed with great variety at first : some ^Y^^^^ 
fasting only one day, some two, some more, and some 
for forty days together, i, e, if Eusebius be rightly under- 
stood by the learned Dr. Grabe : if not, we must reduce 
the forty days to an entire abstinence of forty hours on- 
ly, according to Valesius^^ ; from which number of hours 
some think it is most probable this fast was first called 
T£T(rxpc6K0Trn^ or Quadragesima ; as beginning about 
twelve on Friday, (the time of our Saviour's falling un- 
der the power of death,) and continuing till Sunday 
morning, the time of his rising again from the dead. But 
afterwards it was enlarged to a longer time, drawn out 
into more days, and then weeks, till it was at last fixed 
to forty days ; which number seems very anciently to 
have been appropriated to repentance and humiliation. 
For not to reckon up the forty days in which God 
drowned the world^', or the forty years in which the 
children of Israel did penance in the wilderness^ or the 
forty stripes by which malefactors were to be correct- 
ed''^ ; whoever considers that Moses did, not once only, 
fast this number of days''^ that Elias also fasted in the 
wilderness the same space of time"**, that the Ninevites 
had precisely as many days allowed for their repent- 
ance*^, and that our blessed Saviour himself, when he 
was pleased to fast, observed the same length of time'** : 
whoever, I say, considers these things, cannot but think 

37 V. Euseb, ut sup. et Vales, et 40 Dent. xxv. 3. 
Bevereg-. in loc. p. 247. Edit. 41 Deut. ix. 9, 18 25. 
Reading. 42 1 Kings xix. 8. 

38 Gen. vii. 4. 43 Jonah iii.4, 

39 Numb. xiv. 34. 44 Matt. iv. 2. 

• The author here spoken of, was Dr. George Hooper, who died 
A. D. 1727, and whose works were published in one vol. Fol. at Ox- 
ford, in 1757. Am. Ed. 



232 



Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 



Chap. V. 



Why call- 
ed Lent. 

Why to 
end at 
Easter. 

How ob- 
served by 
the primi- 
tive Chris- 
tians. 



that this number of days is very suitable to extraordina- 
ry humiliation. 

§ 5. It receives its name from the time of the year, 
wherein it is obse^-ved ; Lent^ in the olJ Saxon language 
si,2;nifying Sjoring, being now used to signify this Spring 
fast, which always begins so that it may end at Eastei ; 
to remind us of our Saviour's sulferings, which ended at 
his Resurrection. 

§.6. During this whole season, they were used to give 
the most public testimonies of sorrow and repentance, 
and to show the greatest signs of huraihation that can be 
imagined : no marriages were allowed of, nor any thing 
that might give the least occasion to mirth or cheerful- 
ness''^ ; insomuch that they would not celebrate the 
memories of the Apostles or Martyrs, that happened 
within this time, upon the ordinary week-days, but trans- 
ferred the commemoration of tiicm to the Saturdays or 
Sundaj^s''^ For the Eastern Christians, as I have al- 
ready observed47, celebrated Saturday as well as Sun- 
day as a day of festival devotions. But except on those 
two days, even the holy Eucharist was not consecrated 
during the whole time of Lent, that being an act. as 
those fathers thought, more suitable and proper for a 
festival than a fast'*^ On those days indeed they conse- 
crated enough to supply the Communions of each day, 
till either Saturday or Sunday returned again. For 
though the Sacrament was not consecrated on the or- 
dinary week-days, yet it was customary to receive it 
every day ; and therefore to those that came to com- 
municate upon any of those days, they administered out 
of what the Greeks called the 7r/)o!;y/a«r^fVa, the Lat- 
ins Prczsanclijicata^ both which words signify the same 
thing, viz* the Bread and Wine that were ready conse- 
crated. 

Nor was the demeanour of the primitive Christians at 
home less strict and austere than their discipline at 
Church: they lay in sackcloth and ashes, and took no 
care of their garb or dress ; they used no other food 
but what was necessary to preserve life^^ ; some abstain- 
ing from flesh and wine ; others, especially the Greeks, 
forbearing all lisb likewise as well as flesh : some conten- 
ted themselves with eggs and fruits ; others forbore both, 



45 Concil. l.aod. Can. 52. tooQ. 
i. col. 1505. C. 

46 IbiJ. Can. 51. 



47 Page 196. 

48 Ibid Can. 49. 

49 Tertul.de Poenit. passim. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 233 

.aiid lived upor\ bread, herbs, and roots : but all agreed ^^^^^'^ 
in this, viz, that whereas at other seasons their fasts con- 
tinued but till three in the afternoon, they would not on 
any day in Lent eat till the evening*°, and then such food 
as was least delicate^i. 

Sect. XI. Of Ash- Wednesday, or the first day of Lent, 

^J' HE first day of Lent had formerly two names, one Why Lent 
of which was Caput Jejunii, the Head of the Fast ; the J^fJ^'^^^ 
other Dies Cinerum, Ash-Wedne^day. The first coni- 
pellation was given because T^ent began on that day j for 
since it was never the custom of the Churcn to fast on 
Sundays, (whereon we commemorate so great a bless- 
ing as our Saviour's Resurrection,) therefore we begin 
Lent on this day, to supply the room of those Sundays. 
For if you deduct out of the six weeks of Lent the six 
-Sundays, there will remain but thirty-six fasting-days, to 
which these four of this week being added, make up the 
-exact number of forty. 

§. 2. The name of Ash-Wednesday proceeded from a ^^Jf^^^ 
custom in the ancient discipline, which began very ear- \Veduea- 
ly to be exercised on this day ; an account whereof we day. 
have in Gratian*^ as follows : 

On the first day of Lent the penitents were to present 
themselves before the Bishop clothed with sackcloth, 
with naked feet, and eyes turned to the ground : and 
this was to be done in the presence of the prmcipal of 
the clergy of the dioctse, who w^ere to judge of the sin- 
-cerity of their repentance. These introduced them in- 
to the church, where the Bishop, all in tears, and the 
rest of the Clergy, repeated the seven penitential 
psalms. Then rising from prayers, they threw ashes 
upon them, and covered their heads with sackcloth ; and 
then with mournful sighs declared to them, -.hat as Adam, 
was thrown out of Paradise, so they must be thrown out 
of the church. Then the Bishop commanded the offi- 
cers to turn them out of the church-doors ; and all the 
clergy followed after, repeating that curse upon Adam, 
In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy bread. The 
like penance was inflicted upon them the next time the 
Sacrament was administered, which was the Sunday fol- 

50 Basil. Horn. 1. de Jejun. et c. 22. torn. i. p. 1105. B. C. 
Prudent Hymn, ante Cibum. 52 1 Part. Uecr. Dist. 50. c 

51 Epiphan. Expos. Fid. Cathol. 64. toaa. I. p. 331, 

E E 



234 Of the Sundays and Holij-day^^ 

rchap . V. lowing. And all this was done to the end that the pen i- 
Lents, observing how great a disorder the Church was in 
hy reason of their crimes, should not lightly esteem of 
pen ini'e 
How oh- §.3. Though this discipline was severe, yet the many 
seiv . -. 1)3^ good conseuur-nces of it showed ii worthy the imitaiion of 
otE:i<>- ^11 ciiurcnes m succeedn;rg ages ; and oars in particular 
lau<i.* heartily' bewaiU the want of it: but till she can be so 
hfrppy 9s t ) succeed in discharging those obligations she 
lies under to restore it, she supplies that want, by adding 
to her ordinary service a very proper and suitable otlice 
called the Comminalion^ which shall be treated of hereaf- 
ter in its turn. 
The §, 4. In the ordinary Morning and Evening Service, 

Psaims. instead of the Psalms for the day, are appointed six of 
David's Penitential Psalms, (the seventh being used in 
the oflice ofCommination :) concerning which we need 
only observe, that they are the very forms wherein that 
Royal Prophet expressed his repentance, and were all 
composed by him in times of affliction, and contain sup- 
plications and prayers to be delivered from all temporal 
and spiritual enemies ; and have, for this reason, been 
very much esteemed of in the Church in all ages*^ and 
were always thought proper to be used in times of hu- 
miliation and repentance* 
The Col- §. 5. The collect for this day was made new at ibe 
iect, Epi- compiling of the Liturj:y : the Epistle and Gospel were 
GoTpei" taken out of the old offices. For the former is read part 
of Joel, which together Avith the latter, cautions us to be 
very careful, that, whilst we seem to be ready at all ex- 
ternal signs of sorrow, we be not void of internal contri- 
tion. 
No lessons §, 6. There are no proper lessons appointed for this 
appointed. f\^^y^ vvhich 1 presume proceeded from an omission of the 
compileri.^ 

Sect. XII. 0/ the Sundays in Lent. 

The Col- ThOUCH the Church allows us to interrupt our fasts 

Jecb, Epi- on tne Sundays in Lent^ by reason oi' the emincncy of 

sties and jj^qsc davs ; yet, lest the pleasantness of those intervals 
Gospels. J •) J •> r 

53 Gre-. Mag.Comfnent. in 7 Piil. Pcan. toai.iii. col. 369, Sec. 

*\u Ihe American Litiirjry proper lessons are appointed. Morning', 
Isuiuli lis. utid Lake wl.tl). Evcii.ii^, Jonah iii. and 2 Potet, in. 

Am. Ed. 



I 
I 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 235 

should entice us to a discontinuance of our mortification ^^^^' ^J'- 
and abstinence in the returning week-days, when we ~" "' 

ought to renew it with the greater zeal, she takes care to 
remind us of the duties we have undertaken, and there- 
fore in the Epistles (which were continued from the old 
Missals) sets before us the obligjations we lie underof re- 
turning to our acts of self-denial and humiliation. But 
because all this without charity is nothing worth ; the 
Gospels (which are of the same antiquity) are designed 
to excite us to the exercise of that great duty in all its 
branches, by proposing to us the example of our great 
Lord and Master the blessed Jesus, who not only fasted 
and withstood the greatest temptations of doing evil U\ 
his own person^^ but went about seeking opportunities 
of doino;. good to others ; healing the sick'*, feedin/^ the 
hungry*^, blessing those that cursed hin:^?, and doing 
good to those thatdespitefully used him-* : in all which 
actions we are, at this time especially, bound to imitate 
hiDi. The Collects, as well as the Epistles and Gospels 
for all these Sundays, are the same that we meet with ia 
the old offices, excepting that the first was m.ade new at 
the Reformation, and the last is, in the Liturgy of St, 
Ambrose, appointed for Good-Friday. 

§. 2. The Sundays in Lent are by our own Church, as Sundays in 
well as the Greek, generally termed by their number, Lent, how 
being called the ^r^^ second^ and third Sunday^ (^-c. in "^"^^^* 
Lent; but the three last are sometimes distinguished by 
particular names of their own : the fourth, for instance, 
is with us generally called Midknl- Sunday ; though MHient- 
Bishop Sparrow and some others, term it Bominica Rcfec- Sunday. 
iionis, the Sunday of Refreshment : the reason of which, 
I suppose, is the Gospel for the day, which treats of our 
Saviour's miraculously feeding five thousand ; or else 
perhaps the first Lesson in the Morning, which gives us 
the story of Joseph's entertaining his brethren. And j^^ppj^n,, 
the appointment of these Scriptures upon this day might able rise of 
probably give the first rise to a custom still retained in WWienfing 
many parts of England, and well known by the name of gj-ip "*^' 
Midlenting or Mothering, 

The fifth Sunday in Lent is, by the Latins especially, paspion- 
often called Passion-Sunday ; though 1 think that would Sunday, 
be a more proper name for the Sunday following : but 

54 Gospel for the first Sunday 5G For (he third, 
in Lent. 57 For *he fourth. 

55 For the second, 58 For the fifth. 



235 Ofiht Sundaij^ and Holy-days, 

Chap. V. the reason, I suppose, ^vhy that title is thrown back to 

• this, is because the Sunday next before Easter is gcnrral- 

Fa!ra- !^ called Palm-Siinday, in commemoration of our Sav- 
Sjuday. io^i^''* triumpliai entry into Jerusalem, when the multi* 
lude that attended him strewed Palm-branches in his 
way^^ : in remembrance of which Palms were used to be 
borne here with us upon this dav till the second year of 
King Edward VP°. 

Sect. XIU. Of the Passion-Week. 

Patsion- T -^^ following week was by some looked upon as vt 
Week, distinct time of fasting from the foregoing Lent.^and as 
instituted upon different accounts : that being observed in 
imitation of our Saviours fasting, &c. as has been already 
observed ; this in commemoration of his sufferings and 
passion, which were then completed^^ But by others it 
was only accounted a continuation of the same fast in a 
, stricter degree : it being generally called the Great 
Week^^, not because it had more hours or days in it than 
any other week, but because in this week was transacted 
an affair of the greatest importance to the happiness of 
man, and actions truly great were performed to secure 
his salvation : death was conquered, the devil's tyranny 
was abolished, the partition-wall betwixt Jew and Gen^ 
tile was broken down, and God and man were reconcile 
Why call- ed^. It was also called the Holy-zveek, from those de- 
ed ^o^y" vout exercises which Christians employed themselves in 
iio^ for- upon this occasion. They applied themselves to pray- 
xnerly ob- er, both in public and private, to hearing and reading 
served. God's holy word, and exercising a most solemn repent- 
ance for those sins which crucified the Lord of Life. 
They observed the whole week with great strictness of 
fasting and humiliation ; some fasting three days togeth- 
er ; some four ; nnd others, who could t)ear it, the whole 
six ; beginning on Monday morning, and note-ating any 
thing again till cock crowing on the 8unf?ay morning 
following. And several of the Christian Emperors, to 
show what veneration they had for this holy season) 



59 Isid. Hispal. de Offic. Eccl. 316. Edit. Cleric. Antw. 1698. et 
Jib. i. cap. 27. IM;Uthaiiis Monachus ibid- 

60 Collier's History, toI. ii. p. 62 Vide Vales, in Enseb. 1. 5. 
24 i, C.24. p. '217. col. 2. Edit.Ueadins:. 

61 Anastasiu* Antiochenns (qui G3 Ciiry?. Horn. 30. in Gen, xi. 
vivil 655.) in Coteleri Notis ia 1. torn. 1. p. 235. 

Const. Apdstol. 1. 5. c. 13. tooj.i. p. 



and their Collects. Epistles^ and Gospels, 237 

causeil all law-suits to cease, and tribunal doors to be Sect.XiH. 
shut, and prisoners to be set free^* ; thereby imitating "^ 
their great Lord and Master, who by his death at this 
lime delivered us from the prison and chains of sin. 

§. 2, The Church of England uses all the means she How^ob- 
can to retain this decent and pious custom, and hath f-fcrved br 
made sufficient provision for the exercise of the devotion J^J-^^IY*^ 
of her members in public ; calling us every day this week \^,^^^ 
to meditate upon our liOrd's sufierings, and collecting in 
the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels, most of those por- 
lions of Scriptiire that relate to this tragical subject, to 
increase our bumiiiation by the consideration of our Sa- 
viour's; to the end that with penitent hearts, and firm 
resolution of dying likewise to sin, we may attend our 
Saviour through the several stages of his bitter Passion. 

§. 3. Our reformers did not much confine themselves TbeGcs-- 
to the Gospels appointed for this week by the ancient of- F^^' 
fices ; but thought, as there was time enough to admit of 
it, it would be most regular and useful to read all the 
four Evangelists' accounts of our Saviour's passion, as 
they stand in order. To this end they have ordered St. 
Matthew's account on the Sunday, appointing the xxvith 
chapter for the second Lesson, and the xxviith, as far as 
relates to his crucifixion, for the Gospel*. On Monday 
and Tuesday is read the story as by St. Mark ; on Wed^ 
nesday and Thursday that by St. Lukef, and on Good- 
Friday the ?:viiith of St. John is appointed for the se- 
cond Lesson, and the xixth for the Gospel|. . 

The Epistles also that are now appointed are more P" ^*' 
suitable to the season, than those that were found in old- 
er offices. 

As for the Collect, the same that is used on the Sunday And Col- 
before is appointed (as indeed a very proper one) to be ^^^^' 
used on the four days following till Good-Friday: on 
which day it is also appointed in the Liturgy of St. Am- 
brose, though in other offices it is found, as with us, up- 
on the Sunday before. 

* Both the xxvith and xxviith ehapters were read for the 
Gospel on the Sunday before Easier till the last review, and 
(he xxviith was continued to the end of the 56th verse. 

t The xvth of St. Mark, which was the Gospel for Tues- 
day, and Luke xxiii. which was appointed for Wednesday, 
were in all former books read throughout. 

\ Both the chapters of St. John were appointed for the 
Gospel in the former books. 

€4 Cod. Thcod. lib. 9. tit. 35. de Quseslione 4. tem. iii. p. 252-. 



238 



Of the Sundays and Holy -days, 



ehap. V. 

Maunday- 
Thursday, 
why Ro 
ealled. 



Epistle 
and Gos- 
pel. 



The f®rm 
6f reconci- 
ling Peni- 
tcuts. 



The 
Church- 
doofB al- 
vfdys set 
open on 
this day. 



Sect. XIV. Of the Thursday before Easter. 

This day is called [Dies Mandati^ Mandate or Maun- 
day- Thursday, from the commandment which our Sa- 
viour gave his Apostles to commemorate the Sacrament 
of his Supper, which he this day instituted after the cele- 
bration of the Passover ; and which was, for thiit reason, 
generally received in the evening of the rlay*^' : or, as 
others think, from that new Commandment which he gave 
them to love one another, after he had w'ashed their feet, 
in token of the love he bore to them, as is recorded in 
the second Lesson at morning prayer. 

§. 2 The Gospel for this daj^ is suitable to the time, as 
treating of our Saviour's passion : but the Erjistle is 
something diflerent, containing an account of the institu- 
tion of the Lord's Supper : the constant celebration of 
which on this day, both in the morning and in the even- 
ing, after supper in ^^, commemoration of its being first 
instituted at that time, rendered that portion of Scripture 
very suitable to the day. 

§. 3. On this day the Penitents, that were put out of 
the church upon Ash- Wednesday, were received again 
into the church, partly that they might be partakers of 
the holy Communion, and partly in remembrance of 
our Lord's being on this day apprehended and bound, 
in order to work our deliverance and freedom^^. 

The form of reconciling Penitents was this : the Bish- 
op went out to the doors of the church, where the Peni- 
tents lay prostrate upon the earth, and thrice, in the 
name of Christ, called them. Come, come, come, ye children^ 
hearken to me ; I zoill teach you the fear of the Lord, Then, 
after he had prayed for them, and admonished them, he 
reconciled them, and brought them into the church. The 
Penitents thus received, trimmi'd their heads and beards, 
and, laying off their penitential weeds, reclothed them- 
selves in decent apparei*'". 

§. 4. It may not be amiss to observe, that the church 
doors used to be all set open on I his da}', to signify that 
penitent sinners, coming from North or South, or any 
part of the world, should be received to mercy, and the 
Church's favour. 

65 Concil. Carlhac;. T Cnn. 29. Jan. Ep. 118. 

Codex ( ;an,Eccle,« Afric. Can 41. 67 Innocent. Epift. nf ci<a(. ab 

66 Concil, Carthae;. 3. Can. 29. Tvo, purt. Id. cap. 40. ct a Bar' 
Codex Can. Eccles. vfric. Can 41. chfirdo, 1. 18. c 18. 

Concil. Trol. Can 29. Ang. ad 68 Capit. I. r. c. 143, 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gosptls. 23S 

Secf. XV, 

Sect. XV. Of Good-Friday. 

l^HIS day received its name from the blessed effects of -why so 
our Saviour's sufferings, which are the ground of all our called. 
jojs and from those unspeakable good things he hath 
purchased for us by his death whereby the blessed Jesus 
made expiation for the sins of the whole world, and, by 
the shedding his own blood, obtained eternal redemption 
for us. Among the Saxons it was called Long-Friday^^ ; 
but for what reasons (excepting for the long fastings and 
offices they then used) does not appear. 

§. 2. 'J'he Commemoration of our Saviour's suflferings, Why ob*, 
hath been kept from the very first age of Christianity^*^, ^^H^^^ ^* 
and was always observed as a day of the strictest fasting 
and humiliation ; not that the grief and affliction the^'- 
then expressed did arise from the loss they sustained, but 
from a sense of the gudt of the sins of the whole world, 
■which drcw^ upon our blessed Redeemer that painful and 
shameful death of the Cross. 

§. 3. The Gospel for this day (besides its coming in ^^^ ^°y 
course) is properly taken nut of St, John rather than any taken out 
other Evangelist, because he wa^s the only one that was ofStJohn. 
present at the passion, and stood by the cross while oth- 
ers fled : and therefore, the passion being as it were re- 
presented before our eyes, his testimony is read who 
saw it himself, and from whose example we may learn 
rot to be ashamed or afraid of the cross of Christ^^— 
The Epistle proves from the insufficiency of the Jewish tj^^ Ep-g. 
sacrifices, that they only typified a more sufficient one, tk. 
which the Son of God did as on this day offer up, and by 
one oblation of himself then made upon the cross, com- 
pleted all the other sacrifices, (w hich were only shadows 
of this,) and made full satisfaction for the sins of the 
whole world. In imitation of which divine and infinite 
love, the Church endeavours to show her "charity to be rj^j^^ q^j_ 
l>oundless and unlimited, by praying in one of the pro- lect. 
per Collects, that the effects of Christ's death may be as 
universal as the design of it, viz. that il may tend to th« 
salvation of all, Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics'^-. 

* In the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward, the 

C9 See the thirty-seventh Canon cap. 17. p. 57. B. Apost. Const, 

of Elfriciti Mr Jotin«on's Eccles- 1. S.c. 13. 

iastical Laws, A. D. 957. 17 Riipertus de OflfJclisDivinn?, 

70 Eu«ib. Hist Eccl. lib. « I. 6. c. 8. 



'240 



Of the Sundays and Holy-days 



The 



,Ohjip. y. ^^ 4, f-jow suitable the proper Psalms arc to tlie day, is 
obvious to any one that reads them with a due attention ; 
they were al! composed by David in times of the greatest 
calamity and distress, and do most of them belong mys- 
tically to the crucifixion of our Saviour ; especially the 
twenty-second, which is the first tor the morning, which 
was in several passages literally fulfilled by his sufferings 
and, either part of it, or all, recited by him upon the 
cross*^ And for that reason (as St. Austin tells*^ us) 
,was always used upon that day by the African church. 

§. 5. The first Lesson for the morning is Genesis xxii. 
containing an account of Abraham's readiness to offer up 
his son ; thereby typifying that perfect oblation which 
was this day made by the Son of God : which was 
thought so proper a Lesson for this occasion, that the 
Church used it upon this day in St. Austin's time^'*. 
The second Lesson is Si. John xviii. which needs no ex- 
planation. The first Lesson for the eveningTs contains 
a clear prophecy of the passion of Christ, and of the 
benefits which the Church thereby receives. The se- 
cond Lesson^* exhorts us to patience under afflictions, 
from the example of Christ, who suffered so much for us. 

Sect. XVL Of Easter-Eve. 



The Les 
sons. 



How ob- 
served in 
the pri- 
mitive 
church. 



This Eve was in the ancient church celebrated with 
more than ordinary devotions, with solemn watchings, 
with multitudes of lighted torches both in their churches 
and their own private houses, and with a general resort 
and confluence of all ranks of people77. At Constanti- 
nople it was observed with most niagnificient illumina- 
tions, not only within the church, but without. All over 
the city lighted torches were set up, or rather pillars of 
wax, which gloriously turned the night into day''^ All 
which was designed as a forerunner of that great light, 
even the Sun of Righteousness^ which the next day arose 
upon the world. 



first of the Collects for this day is appointed to be used at 
"Mattios only ; the other two at the Communion. 



72 See Matt, xxvii. 35, 43. 46. 

73 Aug. in Psalm xxi.iu Prcefat. 
Serm. 2. 

74 August. Serm. de Temp. 71. 

75 haiuh liji. 



76 1 Peter i 5. 

77 Greg. Naz.Oral.42.tom.i.f. 
676. D. 

78 Euseb. Vit. Const. Ub.4.cap. 

£2. p. 536. A. B. 



and their Collects^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 241 

As the day was kept as a strict fast, so the vigil ccnti- Sect.XVL 
i\ued at least till midnight, the congregation not being 
dismissed till that time^^ ; it being a tradition of the 
church, that our Saviour rose a little after midnight t but 
in the East the vigil lasted till cock-crowing ; the tmric 
being spent in reading the Law and the Prophets, in ex- 
pounding the holy Scriptures, and in baptizing the cate- 
chumens^'^. 

§. 2. Such decent solemnities would in these days be How db- 
looked upon as Popish and Antichristian : for which rea- served by 
son, since they are only indififorent (though innocent) ce- J^j-^^^^^ 
remonies, the Church of England hath laid them aside : iand,° 
but, for the exercise of the devotions of her true sons, she 
retains as much of the primitive discipline as she can; 
advising us to fast in private, and calling us together in 
public, to meditate upon our Saviour's death, burial, 
and descent into hell : which article of our faith the pub- 
lic service of the church this day confirms, the Gospel ,^ .^ 
treating of Christ's body lying in the grave, the Epistle <]^ and " 
of his soul's descent into hell. It is true, the Epistle is Gospel. 
by some people otherwise interpreted ; but the other 
parts of it are notwithstanding very proper for Easter- 
Eve ; the former part of it exciting us to suffer cheerful- 
ly, even though jfor well c/omfif, after the example of 
Christ, who, as at this time, had once suffered for sins, 
the just for the unjust; the latter part showing us the 
end and afficacy of Baptism, which was always, in the 
primitive church, administered to the catechumens on 
this day. 

§. 3. Till the Scotch Liturgy was compiled, there was TheCol^ 
no particular Collect for this day : (hose for GoodrFri- 
day, 1 suppose, were repeated : and that which was ap- 
pointed in the Scotch Liturgy was different from our 
present one, which I shall therefore give the reader be- 
low*. 

* O most gracious God^ look upon us in mercy, and grant 
that as we are baptized into the death of thy Son our Saviour 
Jesus Christ ; so by our true and hearty repentance all our 
sins may be buried with him^ and we not fear the grave : that 
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of thee^ O 
Father^ so we also may wall: in newness of life^ but our sins 
never be able to rise i/L judgment against i^s, ami that for the 
merit of Jesus Christ{that died^ was buried^ and rose again for 



2iS. 



<Smen. 



79 Coa5t»Apost, lib. 5. cap. 18. 80 Const. Aoost. I/b- 5. cap. 14. 

r, 18. 



Fr 



242 Oftht Sundays and Holy-days, 

CJiap. V. 

Sect. XVIL Of Easter- Day. 

Eas(er-daj fj ^4yi>^'q ^^^^^.^ ^^ j, ^^^j.^^ ^^.-.^^ ^i^^ Apostles and first 
believers, stood mournfully by the Cross on Good -Fri- 
day, and on the day following f)een again overwhelmed 
with grief, for the loss of the Bridegroom; the Church 
this day, upon the first notice of his resurrection from the 
grave, calls upon us, with a becoming and holy transport, 
to turn our heaviness into joy^ to put off our sackcloth, and 
gird ourselves witH gladness. 
When first §. 2. That in and from the times of the Apostles, there 
observed, [y^^ Y-)een always observed an anniversary festival in me- 
so called, ^^^y ot Christ's Kesurrection, (which from the old Sax- 
on word Oster, signifying to rise, we call Easter-day, or 
the Day of the Resurrection ; or, as others think, from one 
of the Saxon goddesses called Easter, which they always 
worshipped at this time of the year,) no man can doubt, 
that hath any insight into the affairs of the ancient 
Church ; in those purer times, the only dispute being not 
about the thing, but the particular time when the festi- 
val was to be kept. But of this I have said enough be- 
fore". 
The An- ^^ 3^ ^5 f^^ i\^q manner of observing it we find that it 
stead of ' ^^^ always accounted the Queen, or Highest of Festivals, 
the Venite and celebrated with the greatest solemnity^^. In the pri- 
Exultemus, mitive times the Christians of all Churches on this day 
^ .^/^P" used this morning-salutation, Christ is risen ; to which 
those who were saluted, answered, Christ is risen indeed: 
or else thus, and hath appeared unto Simon^^ ; a custom still 
retained in the Greek Church^*. And our Church, sup- 
posing us as eager of the joyful news as they were, is 
loth to withhold from us long the pleasure of expressing 
it ; and therefore, as soon as the Absolution is pronounc- 
ed, and we are thereby rendered fit for rejoicing, she be- 
gins her office of praise with Anthems proper to the 
day, encouraging her members to call upon one another 
to keep the feast ; for that Christ our Passover is sacrificed 
fonts, and is also risen from the dead, and become the first 
fruits of them that slept^ t^c* 

* The first of these sentences was added at the last review : 
the second (which was the first in King Edward's first Com- 

81 See pp.oe 39, ^'co. 83 Luke xxiv 34. 

82 Greg. Nciz. Oiat 42. torn. i. 84 Dr. Smith's Account of the 
p. 626. C. Greek Church, page 32. 



and their Coiled s^ Epistles, and Gospels, 243 

§. 4. The Psalms for the morning are Psalm ii. Ivii. Sect. XV. 
Cxi. The first of which was composed by David, upon 
his being triumphantly settled in his kingdom, after some p^^^^^ 
short opposition made by his enemies ; but it is also (as 
the Jews themselves confess) a prophetical representa- 
tion of Christ's inauguration to his regal and sacerdotal 
offices ; who after he had been violently opposed, and 
even crucified by his adversaries, was raised from the 
dead. l>y the power of his Father, and exalted to those 
great offices in the successful exorcise whereof our sal- 
vation consists. The Iviith Psalm was occasioned by 
David's being delivered from Saul, by whom he was 
pursued after he had been so merciful to him in the cave, 
when he had it in his power to destroy him ; and in a 
mystical sense contains Christ's triumph over death and 
hell. The last Psalm for the morning is a thanksgiving 
to God for all the marvellous works of our Redemption, 
of which the Resurrection of Christ is the chief ; and 
therefore though the Psalm does not peculiarly belong 
to the day, yet it is very suitable to the business of it. 

The Psalms for evening prayer are cxiii. cxiv. cxviii. 
The cxiiith was designed to set forth, in several particu- 
lars, the admirable providence of God, which being nev- 
er more discernible than in the great work of our Re- 
demption, this Psalm can never be more seasonably re- 
cited. The cxivth Psalm is a thanksgiving for the deliv- 
erance of Israel out of Egypt ; which being a type of our 
deliverance from death and hell, makes this Psalm very 
proper for this day. The last Psalm for the day is 
the cxviiith, which is supposed to have been composed 
at first upon account of the undisturbed peace of Da- 
vid's kingdom, after the Ark was brought into Jerusalem : 
but it was secondarily intended for our Saviour's Resur- 



moa Prayer) was concluded with two Allelujahs, and the 
next with one. After which was inserted as follows : 
The Priest. 
Show forth to all nations the glory of God, 

The Answer. 
And among all people his wonderful works. 
Let us pray. 
O God, who for our Redemption didst give thine only begot- 
ten Son to the death of the Cross ; and,, by his glorious Resur- 
rection, hast delivered us from the power of our enemy ; grant 
us so to die daily from sin, that we may evermore live with 
himin the joy of his Resurrection^ through the same Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



244 Of the Sundays and Holy -days, 

Cl:ap. V. rcction, to which wc find it applied both by St. Matthew 

soqIcoU • §• 5. The first Lessons for the morning and evening 
leot.Epis- service contain an account of the passover, and of the 
tie, ad -Israelites' deliverance out of Egypt, both very suitable 
Go.^ptl. ^Q ^1^^ jj^y . |-^j, ^^^ ^i^pjj. Passover Christ our Passover 
was prefigured ; and the deliverance of the Israelites out 
of Egypt, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in 
the Red-Sea, was a type of our deliverance from death 
and sin, which is done away by our being baptized with 
water into Christ. The Gospel and the second Lesson 
for the evening give us the full evidence of Christ''s Res- 
urrection ; and the Epistle and the second Lesson for 
the morning teach us what use we must make of it. 

The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel are all \ery old : 
in the first book of King Edward they are appointed for 
the first Communion ; for I have observed^^ that upon 
the great feasts they had then two Communions, and a 
distinct service at each. For the second Communion 
they had the same Collect which we now use upon the 
first Sunday after Easter. The Episde for that service 
was 1 Cor. v. 6. to ver. 9. the Gospel was Mark xvi. to 
ver. 9. 

Sect. XVIII. Of the Monday and Tuesday in 

Easter- Week, 

The whole AMONG the primitive Christians this Queen of Feasts^ 
time be- ,^g those fathers called it, was so highly esteemed, that 
ter and i^ was solemnized fifty days together ; even from Easter 
VVhitsun- to Whitsuntide*^; and this so strictly in the Spanish 
tide form- Church, that even the Rogations were amongst them de- 
aerved ferred by an order of council till Whitsuntide was over^^; 
during which whole time baptism was conferred, all fasts 
were suspended and counted unlawful, they prayed 
standing, (as they were wont to do every Lord's day in 
token of joy,) thereby making every one of those days 
in a manner equal to Sunday. As devotion abated, this 
feast was shortened ; yet long after Tertuilian, even to 
Gratian's time and downwards, the whole weeks of Eas- 
ter and Whitsuntide were reckoned as holy-days^'. And 
in pur own Church, though she hath appointed Epistles 

85 St. I\Tatt. xxi. 42. Actsiv. 11. Concil. Nicen. Can. 20, torn ii. 

P,6 Pa(;e 215. col. 37. 

87 Tert. de J.'junii.-, c. 14. p. 83 Concil. Gerunden?. Can. 2. 

552. B. De Idol.'c. 14. p. 94. B. Strabo de Offic. Eccles. 1. 2. c. 34. 
DeCoron. Mil, c. 3. p. 102. A. 89 Gralinn. de Consecial. Dist 

3. c. 1. p. 2121. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. SIA5 

and Gospels for the Monday and Tuesday only of this Sect. 

week, which contain full evidences of our Saviour's Res- _^^ '__ 

urreclion* ; yet she maizes provision for the solemn ob- 
servation of the whole week, by appointing a Preface 
suitable to the season for eight days together in the of- 
fice of Communion. 

^ §. 2. The occasion of this week's solemnity was prin- ^gf^^^hv 
eipally intended for the expressing our joy for our Lord's so solemn- 
Resurrection. But among the ancients there was another ly observ- 
peculiar reason for the more solemn observation of this ^^* 
week. For except in cases of necessity they adminis- 
tered Baptism at no other times than Easter and Whit- 
suntide ; at Easter, in memory of Christ's Death and 
Resurrection, (correspondent to which are the two parts 
of the Christian life, represented in baptism dyingunto 
sin, and rising again unto newness of life ;) and at Whit- 
suntide, in memory of the Apostles being then baptized 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and of their having 
themselves at that time baptized three thousand souls^®; 
this communication of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles 
being in some measure represented and conveyed by 
baptism. After these times, they made it part of their 
festivity the w^eek following to congratulate the access 
of anew Christian progeny: the new-baptized coming 
each day to church in white garments, with lights before 
them, in token that they had now laid aside their works 
of darkness, and were become the children of light, and 
had made a resolution to lead a new, innocent, and un- 
spotted life^^ At church, thanksgivings and prayers 
were made for them, and those that were at years of 
discretion (for in those times many such came in from 
heathenism) were instructed in the principles and ways 
of Christianity : but afterwards when most of the bap- 
tized were infants, and so not capable of such solemni- 
ties, this custom was altered, and baptism administered 
at all times of the year, as at the beginning of Christian- 
ity- 

§. 3. The first Lesson for Monday morning^^ treats The Les- 
_ . — — sons. 

* Formerly three days were appointed as holy-days at 
Easter and Whitsuntide93, and then it is probable that the 
Wednesday also had an Epistle and Gospel. 

yu Acts ii. 41. 93 See Archbishop Islep's Con- 

91 Ambr. do Initiand. c. 7 torn. stitution in Mr. Johnson's Eccles- 
iv' col. 348. iastical Laws, and his note upon 

92 Exod. XYi. it, A. D. 1362, 3, 



246 Of the Sundays and Holy-days^ 

Chap. V. about God's sending the Israelites Manna or Bread from 
■" heaven, which was a type of our blessed Saviour, who 

was the hnad of life thai came down from heaven^ of which 
whosoever eateth hath eternal life. The first Lesson for 
Monday evening^'* contains the history of the vanquish- 
ing the Amalekites, by the holding up of Moses's hands ; 
by which posture he put himself into the form of a cross, 
and exactly typified the victory which Christians ob- 
tain over their spiritual enemies by the cross of Christ. 
The smiting also the rock, out of which came water, 
(mentioned in the same chapter) is another type of our 
Saviour : for as the water flowing from the rock quench- 
ed the Israelites'" thirst ; so our Saviour, smitten upon 
the cross, gave forth that living water, of which whosoever 
drinketh shall never thirsf^. The second Lessons^" con- 
tain full testimonies of our Saviour's Resurrection ; that 
for the morning giving an historical account of it ; the 
other for the evening containing a relation of a lame man 
being restored to his feet, through faith in the name of 
Christ, which was an undeniable proof that he was then 
alive. 

The first Lesson for Tuesday morning^'" contains the 
Ten Commandments, which were communicated to the 
people from God by the ministry of Moses, wherein he 
prefigured our Saviour, who was to be a prophet like 
unto him®*, i. e, who was to bring down a new law from 
heaven, and more perfectly to reveal the divine will to 
man. The first Lesson at evening^^ represents Moses 
interceding with God for the children of Israel, for whom 
(rather than God should impute to them their sins) he 
desired even to die, and be blotted out of the hook of life ; 
thereby also typifying Christ, who died and was made a 
curse ferus^ . The second Lesson for the morning^is a 
farther evidence of our Saviour's Resurrection; and that 
for the evening^ proves, by his Resurrection, the neces- 
sity of ours. 

The Epistles and Gospels for these days are the same 
as in old offices : but the Collect for Tuesday, till the 
last review, was what we now use on the Sunday after, 
being the same that in King Edward's first Common 
Prayer book was appointed for the second Communion 
on Easter-day. 

94 Exod. xvii. 99 Exod. xxxii. 

95 1 Cor. X. 4. 1 Gal. iii. 13. 

96 Matt, xxviii. and Acts iii. 2 Luke xxiv to ver. 13-^ 

97 Exodus XX. 3 1 Cor. xv. 

98 Deut. xviii. 15. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels* 247 

Sect. XIX, 



Sect. XIX. Of the Sundays after Easter. 



XJPON the Octave, or first Sunday after Easter-day, it l^^^ Sun- 
was a custom of the ancients to repeat some part of ^^ ^alTeZ 
the solemnity which was used upon Easter-day : from ^ 
whence this Sunday took the name of Low-Sunday, be- 
ing celebrated as a feast, though of a lower degree than 
Easter-day itself. In Latin it is called Dominica in Albis, why call- 
er rather ^osi Alhas^ (sc. depositas,) as some ritualists call f f^ Domin- 
it, i. e. the Sunday of putting off the Chrysoms ; because »cii ^i^Albis. 
those that were baptized on Easter-eve, on this day 
laid aside those white robes or chrysoms which were 
put upon them at their baptism, and which were now 
laid up in the churches, that they might be produced as 
evidences against them, if they should afterwards violate 
or deny that faith which they had professed in their 
baptism. And we may still observe, that the Epistle 
seems to be the remains of such a solemnity : for it 
contains an exhortation to new-baptized persons, that 
are horn ofGod^ to labour to overcome the world, which at 
their baptism they had resolved to do. Both that and 
the Gospel were used very anciently upon this day : but 
in all the old books, except the first of King Edward, 
the Collect for Easter-day was ordered to be repeated ; 
but at the last review, the Collect prescribed in that 
first book was again inserted on this day ; it being the 
same which was originally appointed for the second 
Communion on Easter-day itself, which was then also 
used on the Tuesday following. 

§. 2. As for the other Sundays after Easter, we have T'^^fg^^'. 
already observed, that they were all spent in joyful gti^g' and 
commemorations of our Saviour's Resurrection, and the Gospels 
promise of the Comforter ; and accordingly we find, that fortheoth- 
both those grand occasions of joy and exultation are after Ea^-^ 
the principal subjects of all the Gospels from Easter to ter. 
Whitsuntide. But, lest our joy should grow presump- 
tuous and luxuriant, (joy being always apt to exceed,) 
the Epistles for the same time exhort us to the practice 
of such duties as are answerable to the profession of 
Christians ; admonishing us to believe in Christ, to rise 
from the death of sin, to he patient, loving, meek, charita- 
ble, ^'c, having our blessed Lord himself for our exam- 
ple, and the promise of his Spirit for our strength, com- 
fort, and guide. 

The Collect for the second Sunday was made new in 
ir»49j and that for the fourth was corrected in the begin- 



248 



Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 



Ghap. V. ing of it* at the last review : but the other Collects are 

" — ^ very old, as are all the Epistles and Gospels, which are 

very suitable to the season ; especiallj the Gospel for the 
fifth Sunday, which seems to be allotted to that day upon 
two accounts : first, because it foretels our Saviour's As- 
cension, which the Church commemorates on the Thurs* 
day following ; and, secondly, because it is applicable 
to the Rogations, which were performed on the three 
following days, of which therefore we shall subjoin a 
short account. 



■Rogation- 
days,whea 
first ob- 
served. 



And why 
so called. 



The design 
of their in- 
stitution. 



Sect. XX. Of the Rogation-days* 

About the middle of the fifth century, Mamercus, 
Bishop of Vienne, upon the prospect of some parti- 
cular calamities that threatened his diocesej appointed 
that extraordinary prayers and supplications should be 
offered up with fasting to God, for averting those impen- 
dent evils, upon the three days immediately preceding 
the day of our Lord's ascension^ ; from which supplica- 
tion (which the Greeks call Litanies, but the Latins Ro- 
gations) these days have ever since been called Rogation- 
days, For some few years after, this example was fol- 
lowed by Sidonius Bishop of Clermont, (though he in- 
deed hints that Mamercus was rather the restorer, than 
theinventer ofthe^ Rogations,) and in the beginning of 
the sixth century the first council of Orleans appointed 
that they should be yearly observed® . 

§. 2. In these fasts the Church had a regard, not only 
to prepare our minds to celebrate our Saviour's Ascen- 
sion after a devout manner ; but also, by fervent prayer 
and humiliation, to appease God's wrath, and deprecate 
his displeasure, that so he might avert those judgments 
which the sins of the nation deserved: that he might be 
pleased to bless the fruits with which the earth is at this 
time covered, and not pour upon us those scourges of 
his wrath, pestilence and war, which ordinarily begin in 
this season. 



* The old beginning of it was. Almighty God, which dost 
make the minds of all faithful men to be of one zvill, Grant, ^'C 

4 Aviti ArchiepiscopiVien.A.D. Francor. Scriptores, Paris. 1635. 

490. Homil. iti Bibliotheca S3, toai. i. p. 289. A. 

Patrum. Paris 1575. torn. vii. col. 5 Sidon. 1. 5. Ep. 14. 

338 And from him. Greij. Tu- 6 Concil. Aurel. Can. 27. tom^ 

roaensis, 1, 2. c. 34. apud. Histor, iv. col, 1408. D. E. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 249 

§. 3. At the Reformation, when all processions were Sect.XXi. 
abolished by reason of the abuse of them, yet for retain- "T" 
ing the Perambulation of the Circuits of Parishes, it was (jj^yg/'^at 
ordered, " That the people shall once a year at the time the Uefor- 
" accustomed, with the curate and substantial men of m^iJo"- 
" the parish, walk about the parishes, as thej were ac- 
*' customed, and at their return to church make their com- 
" mon prayers. Provided that the curate, in the said 
" common preambulations, used heretofore in the days of 
" Rogations, at certain convenient places, shall admon- 
" ish the people to give thanks to God, in the beholding 
" of God's benefits, for the increase and abundance of 
" his fruits upon the face of the earth, with the saying of 
" the hundred and fourth Psalm, Benedic anima mea (^-c. 
" At which time also the same minister shall inculcate 
" this and such like sentences, Curse d be he which transla- 
" teththe bounds and doles oj his neighbour, or such other 
'' order of prayer as shall be hereafter appointed^ ." No 
such prayers indeed have been since published ; but 
there is a homily appointed, which is divided into four 
parts ; the three first to be used upon the Monday, Tues- 
day, and Wednesday, and the fourth upon the day when 
the parish make their procession. 

Sect. XXI. Of Ascension-day^ 

Forty days after his Resurrection, our blessed Sav- ^^scenBion- 
iour publicly ascended with our human nature into hea- 
ven, and presented it to God, who placed it at his own 
right hand, and by the reception of those first-fruits 
sanctified the whole race of mankind. As a thankful 
acknowledgment of which great and mysterious act of 
our redemption, the Church hath from the beginning of 
Christianity set apart this day for its commemoration ^5 
and for the greater solemnity of it, our Church in partic. ^ 
ular hath selected such peculiar offices as are suitable to 
the occasion ; as may be seen by a short view of the 
particulars. 

§. 2. Instead of the ordinary Psalms for the morning, ^^e 
are appointed the viiith, xvth, xxist; and for the after- ^^''*''"^' 
noon the xxivth, xlviith, cviiith. The viiith Psalm was 
at first designed by David for the magnifying God for his 

7 Injunction of Qieen Eliza- 8 St. Chrysos. in Diem, Orat. 

beth, 18, ly. in Bishop Sparrow's 87. torn. v. p. 595. Cons^ Aro*t. 

Collection, page 73. 1, 5. c. 18. 
Gg 



250 0/ihe Sundays and Holy-days, 

^^^P- ^- wonderful creation of the world, and for his goodness to 
" mankind, in appointing him (o be Lord of so great a work: 
but in a prophetical sense, it sets forth his more admira- 
ble mercy to men, in exalting our human nature above 
all creatures in the world, which was eminently complet- 
ed in our Saviour's assumption of the flesh, and ascending 
with it to heaven, and reigning in it there. The xvth 
Psalm shows how justly our Saviour ascended the holy 
hill, the highest heavens, of which Mount Sion was a 
type : since he was the only person that had all the qual- 
ifications which that Psalm mentions, and which we must 
endeavour to attain, if ever we desire to follow him to 
those blessed mansions. The xxist, or last Psalm for the 
morning, was plainly fulfilled in our Saviour's Ascension, 
when he put all his enemies to flight, and was exalted in his 
own strength, when he entered into everlasting felicity, 
and had a crown of pure gold set upon his head. 

The first P?alm for the evening service is the xxivth, 
composed by David upon the bringing the Ark into the 
house which he had prepared for it in Mount Sion. And 
as that was a type of Christ's Ascension into heaven, so 
is this Psalm a prophecy of that exaltation likewise, and 
alludes so very plainly to it, that Theodore sa^^s, it was 
actually sung at his ascension by a choir of angels that 
attended him ^ The next is the xlviith. which was an 
exhortation to the Jews to bless God for his power and 
mercy in subduing the heathen nations about them ; but 
is mystically applied to the Christian church, which it 
exhorts to rejoice and sing praise, because God is 
gone up with a merry noise^ and the Lord with the sound of 
the trump : who being now very high exalted, defends his 
church as zoith a shield ; subduing his enemies, and joining 
the princes of the people to his inheritance. In the cviiith 
Psalm, the prophet awakens himself and his instruments 
of music io give thanks to God among the people, for setting 
himself above the heavens, and his glory above all the earth ; 
which was most litterally fulfilled this day in his Ascen^ 
sion into heaven, and silting down at the right hand of 
God. 
The Les- ^ 3^ j^ {{^g f^j-gj Lesson for the morning ^° is recor- 
^°"** dec! Moses's going up to the mount to receive the Law 
from God to deliver it to the Jews, which was the type 
of our Saviour's Ascension into heaven, to send down a 

9 In Psalm xxiv. 11 2 Kings ii. 

i(> Deut. X. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 251 

new law, the law of faith. The first lesson at evening Sect. XXI. 
^^ contains the history of Elijah's being taken up into 
heaven, and of his confering at that time a double por- 
tion of his Spirit on Elisha ; which exactly prefigured 
our Saviour, who, after he was ascended, sent down the ^^jj^^^ 
fulness of his Spirit upon his Apostles and Disciples*. Epbtle' 
The second Lessons ^^ are plainly suitable to the day ; and Goa- 
as are also the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, which are pe^* 
the same as we meet with in the oldest offices. 

Sect. XXII. Of the Sunday after Ascension-day, 

During this week the Apostles continued in earnest Ejjecta- 
prayer and expectation of the comforter, whom our tion-week, 
Saviour had promised to send them, from whence it why so 
is sometimes called Expectation-week, The Collect for ^^ ^ ' 
this day was a little altered at the Reformation, but the 
Epistle and Gospel are the same that were used of old. _, 
The Gospel contains the promise of the Comforter, who i^^t, Epis- 
is the Spirit of truth ; and the Epistle exhorts every one tie, and 
to make such use of those gifts which the holy Spirit Gojpeh 
shall bestow upon them, as becomes good stewards of 
the manifold grace of God. 

Sect. XXIII. Of Whitsunday^ 

The feast of Pentecost was of great eminency among whitsun- 
the Jews, in memory of the Law's being delivered on da.v an an- 
Mount Sinai at that time ; and of no less note among *;'^"^ ^'^^^'' 
the Christians, for the Holy Ghost's descending the very 
same day upon the Apostles and other Christians in the 
visible appearance of fiery tongues, and of those mir- 
aculous powers that were then conferred upon them. It 
was observed with the same respect to Easter, as the Jew- 
ish Pentecost was to their Passover, viz, (as the word 
imports) just fifty days afterwards. Some conclude, 
from St Paul's earnest desire of being at Jerusalem at 
this" time, that the observation of it as a Christian fes- 

* In the American Prayer Book, this narrative of Elijah is made 
the first lesson for the morning, and Deut. x.for the evening*^ the rea- 
son of this change appears to have been that the whole of 2 Kings, ii. 
is strikingly appropriate, while there are only 5 verses of Deut. x. 
which relate to the ascent of Moses into the mount, to bring down the 
law.— But would not Lev, xvi. which relates the entrance of the High 
Priest into the holy of holies have t)een more appropriate than Deut. x. 

Am. Ed 

12 Luke xxiv. 44. and Eph. iv. 13 Acts xx. 16. 
to ver. 17. 



252 Of the Sundays and Holy- day s^ 

<;iiop. V. tival is as old as the Apostles : but whatever St. Paul's 
design was, we are assured that it hath been universally 
observed from the very first acjes of Christianity^^ 
Whv so §. 2. It was styled Whitsunday^ partly because of 

called. those vast d illusions of light and knowledge which were 
then shed upon the Apostles in order to the enlightening 
of the world ; but principally from the white garments, 
which they that were baptized at this time put on, of 
ivhich we have already given a particular account^*. 
Though Mr. Hamon L'Estrange conjectures that it is 
derived from the French word Huict, which signifies 
eighty and then Whitsunday will be Huict-Sunday^ i. e. 
the Eighth-Sunday, viz. from Easter: and to make his 
opinion the more probable, he observes, that the octave 
of any feast is in the Latin called r7/«5, which he derives 
from the French word Huictas^^. In a Latin letter I 
have by me of the famous Gerard Langbain, I find an- 
other account of the original of this word, which he says 
he met with accidentally in a Bodleian Manuscript. He 
observes from thence, that it was a custom among our 
ancestors upon this day, to give all the milk of their 
ewes and kiiie to the poor for the love of God, in order 
lo qualify themselves to receive the gift of the Holy 
Ghost : which milk being then (as it is still in some coun- 
ties) called White Meat^ ^c, therefore this day from that 
custom took the name of Whitsunday*. 

^ The letter I have is in manuscript, but seems to be a 
transcript of a printed letter of Langbain , dated from Oxford 
on Whitsun-eve, 1650, and writ in answer to a friend that 
had enquired of him the original ot the word Whitsuntide : 
in which, afier he had hinted at some other opinions, he 
gives the abovementioned account in the following words : 
Sed ciim ex varianiihus VvJgi Se.rmonibus nihil certi hac i?i re 
pronunciari possiij necesse est f4.evai^sv oirep eo-f^iv ; atque adhuc 
liberuni cuivis conjectandi relinquatur arhitrium. Licebit ideo 
quod {dum in Bodleiana no'^trd omne genus Manvscriptoa Co- 
dices pervolvo) casu mihi obvenerit^ hie subjicere. Exiat illic 
A1S. hoc Titulo, dc Solennitatibus Sanctorum feriandis. Au- 
thor est anonymus^ qui de Fcsto Pentecostes agens^ hcEC habet. 
^''■Jiidce.i qnatuor prcccip'ia celebrant Solemnia ; Pascha, Pen- 

14 Vitt. Ju-=t. Mart. Quasst. et 169. A. 
Respons. ad Orth(v!ox. a?. Tert. 15 Sect, xviii. ^ 2. and Sect. 

do Idol. c. 14. p. 94. B. De Co- xix. f. 1. 

roni'Mil. c. 3. p. 102 A. Orig. 16 See bis Annotations upon 

adv. Cel?. 1. 8- Par. 2. p. 622. L. Whit^Jindaj, in his Alliance of di- 

in Nunjtr. SI. Horn. 25. Par. l.p. vine Offices. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels. 253 

§. 3. The proper Psalms for the morning service are SecXXIU. 
Psalms xlviii. Ixviii. The jilviiith is an hymn in honour • — 

pf Jerusalem, as particularly chosen for the place of "^^^^^^^ 
God's worship, and for that reason defended by his 
more immediate care from all invasions of enemies. It 
is also a form of thanksgiving to God for his mercj^, ia 
permitting men to meet in his solemn service, and so in the 
mystical sense is an acknowledgment of his glorious 
mercies afforded to the church of Christians under the 
Gospel, and consequently very suitable to this day, 
whereon we commemorate the greatest mercy that ever 
was vouchsafed to any church in the world, viz, the im- 
mediate inspiration of the Apostles by the Holy Ghost, 
at which all that saw it marvelled ; and though many that 
were astonished were cast down, yet through the assistance 
of the same Spirit the Church was that very day aug- 
mented by the access of three thousand souls ^^ The 
other Psalm for the morning is the Ixviiith, sung at first 
in commemoration of the great deliverance afforded to the 
Israelites, and of the judgments inflicted on their ene- 
mies ; and contains a prophetical description of the As- 
cension of Christ, who went up on highland led captivity cap- 
tive, and received gifts for men; which benefits he soon after, 
as on this day. poured upon the Apostles, at which tiaie 
the earth shook, and the heavens dropped at the presence of 
God; who sent (as it were, a gracious rainuponhis in- 

" tecosten, Scennpegiam, Enccenia. JVos autem duo de illis 
" celebramus, Pcscha et Pentecosten, sad alia ratione. Illi 
*' celebrant Pentecosten, quia tunc Legem perceperunt : nos au' 
" tPin ideo, quia tunc Spiritus Sanctus missus est Discipidis. 
*' Illi susceperunt Tahalis lapideis extrinsecwi scripta ad desig- 
*' nandam eorum duritiem, quoniam usque spiritualem intellec- 
" turn Uteres non pertingebant : Sed Spiritus Sanctus datus est 
" septuaginta duohus Discipulis in corde^ digito Dei spiritualem 
" intellectum intus dedicante. Ideoque Dies intellectus diciiur 
" Witsonendya.'yc/ ii,m Vitsonenday ; quia Prcedecessores nostri 
" omne Lac Ovium et Vaccarum suarum solebant dare paupe- 
*' ribus illo die, pro Dei araore,ut puriores efficerentur ad reci- 
" piendum donum SpiritHs Sanctis Quorum, fere ad Verbum, 
consentit Manuscripius alter hoc Titulo Doctrina quomodo 
Curatus possit Sanctorum vitas per annum populo denuncia- 
re. Et certe quod de Lade Vaccarum refert. illud percogni- 
tum habfo in agro Hamtoniensi [an et alibi nescio) decimas 
Lacticiniorum venire vulgo sub hoc nomine. The whites of 
Kine ; apud Leicestrenses etiam Lacticinia vulgariter dicun- 
tur Whitemeat. 

17 Acts ii. 41. 



254 Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap. V. JiQritance, and refreshed it when it was weary ,* and when 
""^■' the Lord gave the word, great was the company of the 

preachers. 

The Psalms for the evening are Psalms civ. cxlVe 
The civth is an elegant pious meditation on the power 
and wisdom of God, in making and preserving all the 
creatures of the world. It is used on this day, because 
some verses are very applicable to the subject of it : 
for we herein celebrate the miraculous works of the 
Holy Ghost, who made the clouds his chariot, and walked 
upon the wings of the wind : the earth, at first, trembled at 
the look of him ; but it was afterwards renewed by his breath, 
and filled with the fruits of his works. The cxlvth Psalm 
is a form of solemn thanksgiving to God, descanting on 
all his glorious attributes, very proper for this day where- 
on we declare the power of the third person of the glori- 
ous Trinity, and talk of his worship ; his glory, his praise 
and wondrous works; we speak of the might of his marvel ^ 
lous acts, and tell of his greatness. 
The Leg- §. 4. The first Lesson for the morning" contains the 
tre"''and*^' ^^^ ^^ ^^^ Jewish Pentecost, or Feast oj Weeks, which 
Gospel, was a type of ours : for as the Law was at this time giv- 
en to the Jews from Mount Sinai, so also the Christians 
upon this day received the new Evangelical Law from 
heaven, by the administration of the Holy Ghost. The 
first Lesson for the evening*^ is a prophecy of the con- 
version of the Gentiles to the kingdom of Christ, through 
the inspiration of the Apostles by the Spirit of God ; the 
completion of which prophecy is recorded in both the 
second Lessons^, but especially in the portion of Scrip- 
ture for the Epistle, which contains a particular descrip- 
tion of the first wonderful descent of the Holy Ghost up- 
on the Apostles, who were assembled together in one place, 
in expectation of that blessed Spirit, according to the 
promise of our saviour mentioned in the Gospel, which, 
together with the Collect and Epistle, were taken from 
the old Liturgies. 

Sect. XXI V. Of the Monday and Tuesday in 
Whitsun-Week, 

TVhitsun- J HE Whitsun-week was not entirely festival like that 

week, how 

formerly 18 Deut. xvi. to verse 18. 20 Acts x. ver. 34.* and chap. 

observed. 19 Isaiah xi. xix. to ver. 21. 

*In the American prayer book. Acts iv. to v. 36, is substituted for 
Acts X. V. 34 ; probably because the Holy Ghost appears to be the per- 
son of the Godhead to whom the prayer from v. 24 to 30 is offered. 

Am. Ed. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, 256 

of Easier;* the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday be- Sec-XXlV. 
ing observed as fasts, and days of humiliation and suppli- 
cation for a blessing upon the work of Ordination, (which 
was usually on the next Sunday,) in imitation of the A- 
postolical practice mentioned Acts xiii. 3." But the 
Monday and Tuesday were observed after the same man- 
ner and for the same reasons as in the Easter-Weekt : so 
that what has been said concerning the observation of 
them, may suffice for these ; wherefore 1 shall forbear 
all repetitions, and proceed immediately to their proper 
services. 

§. 2, The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for both these j^J|;^Epi, 
days are ancient: both the Epistles are concerning the sties' and 
baptism of converts, (this being, as we have already no- Gospels, 
ted, one of the more solemn times appointed for baptism,) 
and concerning their receiving of the Holy Ghost by the 
hands of the Apostles, (this being also a time for confir- 
mation, which was always performed by the imposition 
of hands.) The Gospel for Monday seems to have been 
allotted for the instruction of the new-baptized; teaching 
them to believe in Christ, and to become the children of 
light. The Gospel for Tuesday seems to be appointed, 
as it is one of the Ember or Ordination weeks ; the de- 
sign of it being to put a difference between those who are 
lawfully appointed and ordained to the ministry, and 
those who without any commission arrogate to them- 
selves that sacred office. 

§. 3. The first Lesson for Monday morning*^ is a his- '^^^ ^®^' 
tory of the confusion of tongues at Babel, whereby the '°'^^' 
Church reminds us, that as the confusion of tongues 
spread idolatry through the world, and made men lose 
the knowledge of God and true religion ; so God pro- 
vided by the gift of tongues, to repair the knowledge of 

* Wheatlj is here at variance with other writers on Ecclesiastical 
antiquitities. *' This festival of Pentecost in particular," says Bing- 
ham, ^* was observed the whole week after till the Octaves or Sunday 
following, without fasting or kneeling, and then the church returned to 
her usual stationary fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays." Antiq. B. xx, 
chap. VI. Shepherd gives the substance of the above statement. 
Am. Ed. 

t The Wednesday was also observed formerly in England 
as a festival**. 

21. Athanai. Apolog. de Fuga 22 See Mr. Johnson, as cited 

fua, i. 6. torn. i. p. 323. C. Con- in pages 195. 226. 

cU. Gerund. Can, 2. torn, iv.cdl, 2S Gen. xi. to ver. 10, 
1568 A. 



256 Of the Sundays and Hoty-days, 

Ghap. V. himself, and lay the foundation of a new religion. In the 

" first Lesson for Monday evening^' is recorded the resting 

of God's Spirit upon the seventy elders of Israel, to en- 
able them to ease Moses of part of his burden in govern- 
ing that numerous people : which exactly prefigured the 
descent of the same holy Spirit at this time upon the A- 
postles and others, to the same end, viz, that the care of 
all the churches might not lie upon one single person: 
and accordingly the second Lessons for this day^* instruct 
us that these spiritual gifts, of whatever sort they be, are 
ail given to proiit vvithal, and therefore must be all made 
use of to edification, as to their true and proper end. 

The first Lesson for Tuesday morning^ contains the 
inspiration of Saul and his messengers by the Spirit of 
God ; and that at evening^^ is a prophecy of Moses, how 
God would in after-times deal with the Jews upon their 
repentance. The morning second Lesson^* forbids us to 
quench the Spirit of God, or to despise the prophecies utter- 
ed by it ; but because there are many false prophets gone 
into the world, the second Lesson for the afternoon*^ 
warns us not to believe all teachers who boast of the Spi- 
rit, but to try them by the rules of the Catholic faith*. 

Sect. XXV. Of Trinity-Sunday^ 

Ofhow an- In all the ancient Liturgies we find that this day was 
cientdate, jQQi^gj upon only as an octave of Pentecost; the ob- 
servation of it as the feast of the Trinity being of a later 
date ; for since the praises of (he Trinity were every day 
celebrated in thedoxology, hymns, and creeds ; therefore 
the Church thought there was no need to set apart one 
particular day for that which was done on each*'. But 
afterwards when the Arians, and such like heretics, were 
spread over the world, and had vented their blasphemies 
against this divine mystery, the wisdom of the Church 
thought it convenient, that though the blessed Trinity 
was daily commemorated in its public offices of devotion, 
yet it should be the more solemn subject of one particu- 

* Fn the American Liturgy, the second les?on for the afternoon is 
Galai. V. which t^xliort.* christians to walk in the spirit; and contrasts 
the fruits of the spirit with the works of the flesh. Am. Ed 

24 Numb. xi. ver. 16. 28 1 Thess. v. 12. to 24. 

25 1 Cor. xii.aiul chap, xiv.26. 2':» 1 John iv. to ver. 14. 

26 1 Sam- xix. ver. 18. 30 Decretal. Greg. ix. 1.2. Tit. 

27 Deut. XXX. 9. c. 2. coi. 596. Paris, 1601. 



and ihtir Colitcls^ Epislies^ and Gospels, 257 

lar day's meditation. So that from the time of Pope ^^<^t-XXV. 
Alexander 1 1 1, if not before, the festival of the holy Trin- ' " 

ity was observed in some churches on the Sunday after 
Pentecost, in others on the Sunday next before Advent. 
Until in the year 1305, it was made an established feast, 
as it stands in our present calendar, by Benedict XIII.^^ 

§. 2. The reason why this day was chosen as most Why ob- 
seasonable for this solemnity, was because our Lord had seived the 
no sooner ascended into heaven, and the Holy Ghost te""^hi^" 
descended upon the Church, but ihere ensued the full Sunday, 
knowledge of the glorious and incomprehensible Trin- 
ity, which before that time was not so clearly known. 
The Church therefore having dedicated the foregoing 
solemn festivals to the honour of each Person by him- 
self, thereby celebrating the Unity in Trinity ; it was 
thought highly seasonable to conclude those solemnities, 
by adding to them one festival more to the honour and 
glory of the whole Trinity together, therein celebrating 
the Trinity in Unity, But in the Greek Church, the 
Monday in Whitsun-week is set apart for this purpose, 
the Sunday folio wmg being with them the festival of All- 
Saints32. 

§. 3. This mysjery was not clearly delivered to the The Les- 
Jews, because they, being always surrounded by idola- sons, 
trous nations, would have easily mistaken it for a doc- 
trine of plurality of Gods: but yet it was not so much 
hidden in those times, but that any one with a spir- 
itual eye might have discerned some glimmerings of it 
dispersed through the Old Testament. The first chap- 
ter in the Bible seems to set forth three Persons in 
the Godhead ; for besides the Spirit of God which mov- 
ed upon the waters^ ver. 2. we find the great Creator (at 
the 28th verse) consulting with others about the greatest 
work of his creation, the making of man, of which we 
may be assured the Word or Son of God was one, since 
all things were made by him, and without him was not any 
thing made that was made^^. So that those two verses 
fully pointing out to us the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
make this a very proper Lesson for the solemnity of the 
day. The reason of the choice of the other first Lesson 

31 See Alexander's Decretal.!. 1405, for Benedict XIII. was not 

2, Tit. 9. c. 2. as cited bv Mr. chosen Pope till 1394. 
JohtisoM in his F.cclesia?tical Laws, 32 Smit.'s Acc'-unt of the 

A D. 1268. ^5. Though I sup- Greek Church, page 34. 
pose for 13U5, Mr Johnson meant 33 John i. 3. 

Hh 



258 Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap- \\ is as^^ obvious: it records the appearance of the great 
■"'~~' Jehovah to Abraham, whom the Patriarch acknowledges 
to be the Judge of all the earth; and who therefore, by 
vouchsafing to appear with two others in his company, 
might design to represent to him the Trinity of Persons, 
But this sacred mystery is no where so plainly manifestr 
ed as in the second Lesson for the morning^^, which at 
one and the same time relates the baptism of the Son, 
the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Holy 
Ghost: which though the}y are (as appears from this 
chapter) three distinct Persons in number, yet the sec- 
ond Lesson at evening^® shews they are but one in es- 
sence."^ 

§. 4. The Episde and Gospel are the same that in 
Epistle and ancient services were assigned for the octave of Whit- 
Gospel. Sunday : the Gospel especially seems to be very proper 
to the season, as being the last day of the more solemn 
time ot baptism ; though they are neither of them im- 
proper to the day, as it is Trinity Sunday: for in both 
the Epistle and Gospel are mentioned the three Persons 
of the blessed Trinity; and that noted hymn of the an- 
gels in heaven, mentioned in the portion of Scripture ap- 
pointed for the Epistle, Holy, holy^ haly, Lord God AU 
n%/i/?/, seems of itself to be a sufficient manifestation of 

*Shppher.5 exprf sses himseirin a more g-uarded manner ihap Wheat- 
ly, respecting the ^e^ond lesson for the evening of Trinitj Sunday : 
'• The second at evening was intended to prove that they are united ia 
Essence, that these three are one." Erasmus having", on the authority of 
the Dublin manuscript, inserted 1 John v. 7. in his third edition of the 
Greek New Testament, in 1522, the genuineness of this verse, on the 
authority of i hat great critick was considered as settled ; and it derived 
additional confirmation from the labours of Robert Stephens, in his inag- 
nificent edition of the Greek Testament in 1550. In Arch-bishop 
Cranmer's Bible, the verse in question was printed with smaller types, 
and inclosed in brackets,to denote its suspicious character ; but in Arch- 
bishop Parker's bible first published in 15Q8, the objection being con- 
giaered as removed on the authority of the editions of Erasmus and 
Stephens, this verse was printed in the same character with the rest. 
The first edition of the prayer book was published in 1549 ; the second 
in 1552. — This book was followed in the revised edition published in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, A. 1559. The last revision in England 
was in the year 1661 At all these periods, no doubts were enter- 
tained concerning the genuineness of the verse. The critical labours 
of Wetsteio, Griesbach, Person and Marsh, have since that time, 
^ produced a great chancre of sentiment, and the seventh verse of 1 John, 
V. is now generally considered by the most able criticks, as an interpo- 
lation. Am. Ed. 

34 Genesis xviii. 36. 1 John v. 

35 Matthew iji. 



and their Colkcls^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 259 

three Persons, and but one God, The Collect is plainly Sec, 
adapted to this day, as it is Trinity-Sunday : though ^^^^' 
this too is the same as in the office of Sarum. "" 

Sect. XXVI. Of the Simdays from Trinity-Sunday to 
Advent* 

In the annual course of the Gospels for Sundays and The Gos, 
Holy-days, the chief matter and substance of the four pelsforthe 
Evangelists is collected in such order as the church afterTrin- 
thinks most convenient to make the deepest impression Uy. 
upon the congregation. The whole time from Advent 
to Trinity-Sunday is chiefly taken up in commemora- 
ting the principal acts of providence in the great work 
of our Redemption ; and therefore such portions of 
Scripture are appointed to be read, as are thought most 
suitable to the several solemnities, and most likely to 
enlighten our understanding, and confirm our faith in 
the mysteries we celebrate. But from Trinity-Sunday 
to Advent, the Gospels are not chosen as peculiarly 
proper to this or that Sunday, (for that could only be 
observed in the greater festivals,) but such passages are 
selected out of the Evangelists, as are proper for our 
meditation at all times, and may singularly conduce to 
the making us good Christians : such as are the holy 
doctrine, deeds, and miracles of the blessed Jesus, who 
always went about doing good, and whom the Church 
always proposes to our imitation. 

§. 2. The Epistles tend to the same end, being fre- 
quent exhortations to an uninterrupted practice of all I'he Epis- 
Christian virtues: they are all of them taken out of St. sundaysaf^ 
Paul's epistles, and observe the very order both of ter Trinity 
epistles and chapters in which they stand in the New »n general. 
Testament, except those for the five first Sundays, that 
for the eighteenth, and the last for the twenty-fifth. 

Those for the five first Sundays are all (except that Forthefive 
for the fourth) taken out of St. John and St. Peter : for ^','4^®""' 
which reason they are placed first, that they might not " 
afterwards interrupt the order of those taken out of St. 
Paul. 

For the variation of the Epistle for the eighteenth For the 
Sunday, another reason may be given, which is this: It fc'a:hteen th 
was an ancient custom of the Church in the Ember- ^"'^'^^y- 
weeks, to have proper services on the Wednesdays and 



260 Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap.\. Fridays, but especially on the Saturdays; when, alteF 
' a long continuance in prayer and fasting, they perform- 

ed the solemnities of the Ordination cither late on Sat- 
urday evening, (which was then always looked upon as 
part of the Lord's day,) or else early on the morning 
following ; for which reason, and because they might 
be wearied with their prayers and fasting on the Satur- 
Vacaut ^^y^' ^^^ Sundays following had no public services, but 
Sur.Hayf, ^^'^TC Called DGminicce vacantes^'u Q, vacant Sundays, But 
tvhence so afterwards, when theythouejht it not convenient to let a 
called. Sunday pass without any solemn service, they dispatched 
the Ordination sooner on Saturdays, and performed the 
solemn service of the Church as at other times on the Sun- 
days. But these Sundays having no particular service 
of their own, for some time borrowed of some other 
days, till they had proper ones fixed pertinent to the 
occasion. So that this eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, 
often happening to be one of these vacant Sundays, had 
at the same time a particular Epistle and Gospel allotted 
to it, in some measure suitable to the solemnity of the 
time. For the Epistle hints at the necessity there is of 
spiritual teachers, and mentions such qualifications as 
are especially requisite to those that are ordained, as 
the being enriched with all utterance and in all knowledge, 
and being behind in no good gift* The gospel treats of 
our Saviour's silencing the most learned of the Jews by 
his questions and answers ; thereby also showing how 
his ministers ought to be qualified, viz. able to speak a 
word in due season, to give a reason of their faith, and 
to convince, or at least to confute, all those that are of 
heterodox opinions. 
For the The last Sunday, whose Epistle varies from the order 

twenty- of the rest, is the" twenty-fifth, for which the reason is 
daV ^^^' "''^"'f^-f ' ^^^' ^'^is Sunday being looked upon as a kind 
of preparation or forerunner to Advent, as Advent is to 
Christmas, an Epistle was chosen, not according to the 
former method, but such a one as so clearly foretold the 
coming of our Saviour, that it was afterwards applied to 
him by the common people, as appears by an instance 
mentioned in the Gospel for the same day; for when 
they saw the niiracle that Jesus did, they said. This is 
of a truth that Prophet that should come into ihe world. 
And it was probably for the sake of this text, that this 
porti(m of Scripture (which has before been appointed 
for the Gospci on (ho fourth Sunday in Lent) is here 



II 



and their Collects^ Epistles, and Gospels. 26 1 
repeated ; viz, because they thought this inference of ^e 



the multitude a fit preparation for the approaching sea- 
son of Advent : for which reason, in the rubric follow- 
ing this Gospel, we see it is ordered, (according to an 
old rule of Micrologus, an ancient ritualist,) that if there 
are either more or fewer Sundays between Trinity- Sunday 
and Advent, the services must be so ordered, that this last 
Collect^ Epistle, and Gospel be always used upon the Sun' 
day next befire Advent*; i. e. if there be fewer Sundays, 
the overplus is to be omitted : but if there be more, the 
service of some of those Sundays, that were omitted after 
the Epiphany, are to be taken in to supply so many as 
are wanting: but which of those services the rubric 
does not say. And for that reason there is generally a 
diversity in the practice ; some reading, on those occa- 
sions, the services next in course to what had been used 
at the Epiphany before ; and others, at the same time, 
reading the last or two last, accordingly as one or both 
of them are wanting. The last of these practices I think 
to be preferable: partly upon the account, that when 
there is an overplus of Sundays after Trinity one year, 
there is generally a pretty full number after Epiphany 
the next ; so that if any of the services for the early 
Sundays after Epiphany are taken in to supply those 
that are wanting after Trinity, the same services will 
come in turn to be read again pretty soon : but the chief 
reason why I think the latter services should be used, 
is because ihe service that is appointed for the last Sun- 
day after Epiphany, is a more suitable preparation for 
the season that is approaching, and makes way for the 



* There was nothing of this rubric in the Common Prayer 
Book of 1549. And in ail the other old books, except the 
Scotch, it was only this. If there be any more Sundays bpfore 
Advent' Sunday, to supply the same shall be taken the service of 
some of those Sundays that were omitted between the Epiphany 
and Sepiuagesima. To this, in the Scotch Liturgy, <vas ad- 
ded farther as follows : but the same shall follow the twenty- 
fourth Sunday after Trinity. And if there be fewer Sundays 
than twenty-five before Advent, then shall the twenty-third or 
twentyfourth, orboth^ be omitted : so that the twenty-fifth shall 
never either alter or be left out, but be always used immediate- 
ly before Advent-Sunday, to which the Epistle and Gcspe! of 
that do expressly relate. 



XXVL 



262 Of the Sundays and Holy-days^ 

Chap. V. service for the last Sunday after Trinity, as lliat does 

~ '~' for the services appointed for Advent. 

kcL ^' ^' ^' ^^^ ^^^ Collects for these Sundays, together with 
the Epistles and Gospels, are taken out of tne Sacra- 
raentary of St. Gregory*, excepting that some of the 
Collects were a little corrected and smoothed .\i the last 
review. I do not think it necessary to trouble the rea- 
der with the variations that only amend the expression: 
but those that make any alteration in the sense, he may 
desire perhaps to have in the marginj. 

* Shepherd observes, that '*All our Collects. Epistles and G >spels for 
e-»ery Sunday from Easter to the twenty Jifih after Trinity^ are retained 
from the Missal of Sarum^ with only three or four exceptions'''' — Our ex- 
tracts from Scripture are often longer, but they are so fai the >ame, that 
we always read what was in England formerly read for the Gospel and 
Epistle, and occasionally some what more. 

''Between the Missal of Saruin which our reformers in this instance ?o 
scrupulously followed, and the Roman and Gallican Missals, there is 
a very extraordinary difference. From the third or fourth Sunday after 
Trinity, to the twenty third, they never read the same Collect, Epntle 
and Gospel on the same day that we read them ; still th -y read them 
all To exemplify what I mean : their practice is on the fifth Sunday 
after Pentecost, to read our Collect and Gospel for the sixth Sunday 
after Trinity, and our Epistle for the fifth. On the sixth, they read our 
Collect and Gospel for the Seventh, and our Epistle for the >ixth. 
On the seventh, our Collect and Gospel for the eighth, and our Epis- 
tle for the seven. h, and thus they regularly proceed to the twenty-third 
Sunday. This uniform disagreement, which at my first discovery of it 
by collating their respective books, appeared curious «»nd smgular, en» 
titles none of these respective churches, nor the compilers of their offi- 
ces, either to censure or to praise. Our arrangement they must admit to 
be more ancient and we,on our part,raust acknowledge theirs to have be 
come most general ; and which of the two is preferable,who will decide ? 

'' The Parisian Missal appoints for the 24lh, 25th, and 26th Sundays 
after Pentecost, the ( ollects. Epistles and Gospels wluch are in our 
book appointed for the 3d, 4th, and 5th Sundays after the Epiphany. 

"• The collect for the last Sunday both in the K-man (whicfi has offi- 
ces for but 24) and in the Gallican (which ha* 2">) is the same with 
ours for the 25th, or last. 

'* The passage for the Epistle from Jeremiah, which was anciently read 
on this last Sunday, and which we retain, they have ti-ansferred to Ad- 
vent, thinking it more suitable to that season, which commemorates 
the coming of the Messiah, to clearly announced by the Prophet. Their 
Epistle is Col. i. 9. The Ancient Go»pel for the last Sunday when 
there were 25 or more, was that which wo aU/ays use on the Sunday 
next before Advent. Rut this having been used for the Gospel on the 
fourth Sunday in Lent, they selected a pas«jage from St. Matthew 
(xxiv. 15 to 36) which treats of the end of tlie world and Christ's com- 
jng to Judgment." Anu Ed. 

t In all former Common Prayer Books, the Collects for 
the following Sundays were expressed as follows. 

For the second Sunday : Lord^ make us to have a perpetu- 



and their Colkcis^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 263 

Sect. XXVII. Of the Immoveable Feasts in generaL yxvii 
l^HESE festivals are all of them fixed to set days, and 



so could not be conveniently placed among those we Why plac- 
have already treated of, because (they having all of ed bythem- 
them, except those from Christmas-day to Epiphany, a comm"n * 
dependance upon Easter, w^hich varies every year) they Prayer 
happen sometimes sooner, and sometimes later. So that Book, 
if the moveable and immo-veable had been placed to- 
gether, it must of necessity have caused a confusion of 
the order which they ought to be placed in ; for pre- 
vention of which the fixed holy-days arc placed by 
themselves, in the same order in which they stand in 
the calendar. 

§. 2. They are most of them set apart in commemo- To what 
ration of the Apostles and first Martyrs ; concerning the end ap- 
reason and manner of which solemnity, I have already ^°*" ^ 
spoken in general, page 19B, &c. which may suffice 
without descending to particulars: so that now I shall 
only make a few observations on some of them, which 
may not perhaps seem wholly impertinent, 

at fear and love nf thy holy name : for thou never failest to 
help and govern them whom ihou dost bring up in thy stedfasi 
love : grant this^ ^"C. 

In that for the third, the words, and comforted in all dan- 
ger and adversities^ were added in the last review. 

The Collect for the eighth began thus : God, whose provi- 
dence is never deceived, we humbly beseech thee, 4'C. as in our 
present Liturgy. 

In that for the ninth, that we, which cannot he without theCf 
may by thee be able to live, ^c. 

In that for the eleventh, Gi^ye unto us abundantly thy grace, 
that we running to thy promises, may be made partakers, d^c. « 

On the twelfth it ended thus ; and giving ms that, that our 
prayer dare not presume to ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
In the Collect for the fifteenth, the words, from all things 
/iwrrfw/, were added tn 1661. 

In the sixteenth, the word Congregation was changed for 
Church. 

The beginning of the eighteenth was thus : Lord, we be- 
seech thee, grant thy people grace to avoid the infections of the 
Devil, and with pure hearts, ^c. 

In the nineteenth, Grant thmt the working of thy mercy may. 
in all thi7igs, ^c. 

In the twentieth, in stead of may oheerfullyy it was form- 
erly may with free hearts^ he. And 

In the twenty-fourth, instead of absolve, it was formerly 
assoil. 



264 Of the, Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap. V. Sect. XXVIII. Particular Observations on some of the 

Immoveable Feasts, 



Saint An- 

wfrr^obter'. Concerning St. Andrew we may observe, that as 
ved'first^'^' ^^ ^^'^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^at found the Messiah^^, and the first 
that brought others to hini^^ so the Church, for his great- 
er honour commemorates him first in her anniversary 
course of holy-days, and places his festival at the begin- 
ning of Advent, as the most proper to bring the news of 
our Saviour's coming. 
SI. Tho- §, 2. St. Thomas's day seems to be placed next, not 
c!)mra^em"!l. ^^'^ause he was the second that believed Jesus to be the 
rated next. Messiah, but the last that believed his Resurrection; 
which though he was at first the most doubtful, yet he 
had afterwards the greatest evidence of its truth ; which 
the Church recommends to our meditation at this season, 
as a fit preparative to our Lord's Nativity. For unless 
we believe with St. Thomas, that the same Jesus, whose 
birth we immediately afterwards commemorate, is the 
very Christ, our Lord and our God ; neither his Uirth, 
Death nor Resurrection, will avail us any thing. 
fct Paul, ^^ 3^ Sf^ p^yl jg j^Qj. commemorated, as the other 
rnernora^' ^postlcs are, by his death or Martyrdom ; but hj his 
ted by his Conversion ; because as it was wondejrful in itself, so 
Conver- it was highly beneficial to the Church of Christ. For 
sion- while other Apostles had their particular provinces, he 

had the care of all the churches ; and by his indefatigable 
labours contributed very much to the propagation of the 
Gospel throughout the world. 
The purili- §. 4. Whereas some churches keep four holy-days in 
cdtion and niemorv of the blessed Virdn, viz, the Nativity, the An- 
atioD. nunciation, the Purification, and the Assumption ; our 
Church keeps only two, viz. the Annunciation and Puri- 
fication : which though they may have some relation to 
the blessed Virgin, do yet more peculiarly belong to 
our Saviour. The Annunciation hath a peculiar re- 
spect to his Incarnation, who being the eternal Word of 
the Father, was at this time made flesh ; the Purification 
is principally observed in memory of our Lord's being 
made manifest in the flesh, when he was presented in the 
Temple. 

On the Purification the ancient Christians used abun- 
Candle- clance of lights both in their churches and processions, 
"vhence 60 ^^ remembrance (as it is supposed) of our blessed Sav- 
called. 

37 John i. 33' 38 V«rse 42. 



il 



and their Collects^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 265 

Jours being this day declared by old Simeon, to be a ^^\\ 
light to lighten the Gentiles, <^c. which portion of Scripture ^ ' 
IS for that reason appointed for the Gnspel for the day. "" 
A practice continued with us in Enghrid till the second 
year of King Edward VI. when Bishop Cranmer forbad 
it by order of the Privy CounciF^ And from this custom 
I suppose it was, that this day first took the name of 
Candlemas-day. 

§. 5. St Matthias's day being generally differently ob- St Mat- 
served in Leap-years, viz. by some one the twenty-fourth, t^ias^s Hay, 
and by others on the twenty-fifth of February ; I think day'^o b*e 
it not amiss to state the case in as few words as I can. obsprvedin 
And to do it clearly, I must begin with the ancient Julian i-eap-year. 
year, which is known to have consisted of three hundred 
sixty-five days and almost six hours : but because of 
the inconvenience of inserting of six hours at the end of 
every year, they were ordered to be reserved to the 
end of four years, when they came to a whole day, and 
then to be inserted at the twenty- fourth of February. 
For the old Roman year ended at February the twenty- 
third, and the old intercalary month was always inserted 
at that time*. And because the intercalary days (accord- 
ing to the method of the Egyptians) were never accounted 
any part of the month or year, but only an appendix to 
them^**, therefore the Romans in the Julian year account- 
ed the twenty-third day of February, i. e. the sixth of the 
calends of March, two days together, which is the reason 
that in our calendar Leap-year is called Bissextile^ or the Leap yeai- 
year in which the sixth of the calends of March came ^'{^"Pp. 
twice over. Now we in England having been very an- ggxtue *^" 
ciently subjects of the Roman empire, received the Ju- 
lian account ; and agreeable to the method of. the Ro- 
mans, our Parliament, in the twenty-first year of King 



* This shews Mr. Johnson's mistake in correcting Doctor 
Wallis for affirming the twenty-fourth to be the intercalary 
day. For certainly the day which follows the twenty-third, 
if counted for any day, must be called the twenty-fourth'*^. 



39 Collier's History, vol. ii. pro momento teiuporis obser^ aa- 
page 241. dos. 

40 Cato in Tit. Dig. }. 98. ex- 41 Addenda to the Clergy- 
pressly says of the practice of the man's Vade Mecura, at the en<i 
Romans^Mensem intercalarem ad- of his two cases, pages 108, 109, 
ditium esse, omnesque ejus Dies 

II 



266 Of the Sundays and Holy-duys^ 

^^^P- ^' Henry III. A. D. 1236, passed an Aci, lliat in every Leap- 
• year the additional dny, and the day next going before, 

should be accounted but for one day. ISow the addition- 
al day being inserted, as 1 have observed, between the 
sixth and seventh of the calends of March, ?. e, between 
the twenty-fourth and twenty-third daj of February*; it 
follows, that, according to the Romaaway of reckoning, 
(who reckoned the calends backwards from the first day 
of the month,) the day which, in our way ofreckoning,was 
in ordinary years the twenty-fourth of February, would 

* Here again Mr. Johnson endeavours to correct Dr. 
Wallis, when he himself is mistaken. His words are these : 
" Dr. Wallis says, that the intercalary day is between the 
<' sixth and seventh calends of March. He certainly meant 
" between the sixth and fifth. It is absurd to suppose that 
" the first six calends, which is February the twenty-fourth, 
'' should be Bissextus, and the twenty-fifth simply Sextiis 
" Prima Sextus must of necessity precede Bissextus. And 
" Bissextus is but another word for the intercalary day. 
'' The mistake seems to have arisen from the Doctor's for- 
" getting that the computation of the calends is retrograd- 
" ous'^V I desire Mr. Johnson to think again, and then to re- 
collect who it is that is forgetful of this retrograde compu- 
tation. He rightly indeed observes that Prima Sextus must 
of necessity precede Bissextus : but which, I would ask, is 
the Prima Sextus? That which stands next to the fifth of 
the calends, or that which stands a day farther off? Now 
the fifth calend of March being February the twenty-fifth, 
and the calends being to be computed in a backwardrorder, 
(as Mr. Johnson well observes,) 1 would ask again, whether 
February the twenty-fourth is not the Primo Sextns ? and 
consequently whether the day before that [i. e. in order of 
time) be not the Bissextus or intercalary day ; and whether 
the intercalary day be not (as Dr. Wallis asserts) between 
the sixth and seventh calends of March, or between the twen- 
ty-fourth and twenty-third of February, though indeed, as we 
now reckon, it cannot be called any other than the twentj'- 
lourth ? So that Queen Elizabeth's Reformers were not mis- 
taken in thinking the twenty-fourth the intercalary day, as 
Mr. Johnson asserts. And therefore he himself must lay claim 
to the excuse he has made in the same page for Dr. Wallis, 
who now, it seems, has no need of it, viz. That " the happi- 
'' est memories, with the greatest knowledge, cannot secure 
*• men against such lapses." 

42 Addenda to the Ci( rp;')'mau"'s Vade Mecnm, at (he end of his two 

case?, pages IP8. lO'A 



and iheir Collects^ Epistles^ and Gospels, 267 

in Leap-years be the twenty-fifth. And consequently ^^-ct. 
St. Matthias being fixed on that day, which in ordinary 
years was (he twenty-fourth, must in every Leap-year be 
observed upon what in our account we call the twenty- 
fifth ; though in the Roman way of reckoning both in 
common years and Leap-years, it is kept the same day, 
viz. the sixth day inclusive before the first day of March. 
And this is according to the known rule, as old as Du- 
rand's time at least ; 

Bissextum Sexlce Mar lis ienuere Calendce : 
Posteriore Die celebrantur Fcsia MathicB, 

And agreeable to this rule stood the rubric in relation to 
the intercalary day, in all the Missals, Breviaries, &c. 
to the Reformation, directing also that in Leap-years, 
St. Matthias's d^y should be always kept upon the twen- 
ty-fifth of February, which is still the order and practice 
in the Church of Rome. But in both the Common Pray- 
er Books of King Edward VL that old rubric was alter- 
ed, and the following one put in its room. 

This is also to be noted, concerning the Leap-years, that 
the twenty- ffth day of February, which in Leap-years is 
counted for two days, shall in those tzoo days alter neither 
Psalm nor Lesson : but the same Psalms and Lessons which 
be said the first day shall serve also for the second day. 

This Dr. Nichols and others think to be a mistake in 
our reformers ; and that they were not apprised which 
was properly the intercalary day : but I cannot imagine 
so many great men to be ignorant both of the rubrics 
and practice of their own Church. I therefore suppose 
that this alteration was made with design, that there 
might be no confusion in the observation of the holy- 
day ; but that it should be kept on the twenty-fourth in 
Leap-years as well as others. However, when Queen 
Elizabeth's Common Prayer was compiled, it was thought 
proper to return to the old practice and rule : and ac- 
cordingly in that book the rubric was thus altered. 

Wheii the years of our Lord (i. e. when the number of 
years from the birth of Christ) may be divided into four 
even parts, which is every fourth year, then the Sunday Ltt' 
ter leapeth * ; and that year the Psalms and Lessons, which 
serve for the twenty-third day of February, shall be read 
again the day following, except it be Sunday, which hath 

* Hence every such fourth year receives the name of 
Leap year. 



268 Of the Sundays and Holy-days^ 

^P' proper Lessons for the Old Testarhent appointed in the tabic 
to serve to that purpose. 

Now according to this rubric St Matthias's day must 
again be kept in Leap-years, as it used to be, viz, not on 
the twenty-fourth day of February, which was looked 
upon in this rubric to be the intercalary day ; but on 
the day foliowing, which we call the twenty-tifth. For 
if the Lessons for the tw^enty-third were also to be read 
upon the twenty -fourth in Leap-j^ears, then that day 
could not be St. iVJatlhias For the first Lessons appoint- 
ed for St. Matthias were Wisdom xix. and Ecclus. i. 
whereas the first Lessons for the twenty-third of Febru- 
ary were at that time the ivih and vth of Deuteronomy. 
And thus stood the rubric till the Restoration of King 
Charles ; when the revisers of our Liturgy observing, 1 
suppose, that the twenty-ninth of February was in our 
civil computation generally looked upon as the interca- 
lary day ; they thought that it would be more uniform, 
and that it would prevent more mistakes in the reading 
.of the Common Prayer, to make it so also in the eccle- 
siastical computation. For which reason the aforesaid 
rubric was then left out, and a twenty-ninth day added 
to February, which has Lessons of its own appointed, 
and till which day the Sunday or Dominical Letter is 
not changed : but whereas F used to be doubled at the 
twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth days, C, which is the 
Dominical Letter for the twenty-eighth day, or else D, 
which is that for the first of March, is now supposed to 
be repeated on the twenty-ninth, notwithstanding Mr. 
Johnson, without giving any reason, animadverts upon 
me for saying so''^ ; though he himself had formerly as- 
serted February the twenty-ninth to be the modern in- 
tercalary day^'*; and that, as 1 take it, upon better 
grounds then he now shews for retracting his opinion. 
So that there being now no other variation of the days, 
than that a day is added at the end of the month, St. 
Matthias's day must consequently be always observed 
on the twenty-fourth day, i, e, as well in Leap-years as 
others. But notwithstanding the case is so clear in it- 
self, yet some almanack makers, still following the old 
custom of placing St. Matthias's day in Leap-years on 
the twenty-fifth, and not on the twenty-fourth of Febru- 
ary, ar«' the occasion of that day's being still variously 

43 Adcienua, ut supra. 44 Clercyman's Vade Mecum, 

Tol . i. page 207. 



and their Collects^ Epistles, and Gospels- 269 

observed in such years. For which reason, on Febru- |^^{* 
ary the iifth, A. D. 16 3, Archbishop Sancroft (who ^^^^"y 
washimseh^ one of the reviewers of the Liturgy, and was 
principally concerned in revising the Calendar, and 
whose knowledge in that sort of learning excelled,'^^) 
published an injunction or order, requiring all Parsons, 
Vicars and Curates, to take notice, that the feast of St. Mat- 
thias is to be celebrated {not upon the Iwenty-fflh of Februa- 
ry, as the common almanacks boldly and erroneously set it, 
but) upon the twenty 'fourih of February for ever, whether it 
be Leap-year or not, as the Calendar in the Liturgy, confirm- 
ed by Act of Uniformity, appoints and enjoins. 

Dr. Wallis indeed informs us, that ••* the Archbishop 
" (upon seeing a letter drawn up by him upon the sub- 
^' jcct, and upon discourse with others to the same pur- 
" pose) seemed well satisfied that it was his mistake ; and 
*' presumes that if he had continued Archbishop to an- 
*' other Leap-year, and in good circumstances, he would 
*' have reversed his former orders, and directed the al- 
*' manacks to be printed as formerly." But this I con- 
ceive to be only a mere presumption of the doctor's'^ 
The Archbishop perhaps might think he had deviated 
from the ancient rule : though indeed from"^ Micrologus, 
who lived about the year 1080, (two hundred years be- 
fore Durand, who is the first that I can find to mention 
the contrary practice.) it appears, the ancient custom 
was to keep St. Matthias, as our present Liturgy now 
enjoins, even in Leap-years, upon the twenty-fourth. 
However, let the ancient custom have been what it will, 
since the Archbishop's leaving out the rubric and alter- 
ing the calendar was confirmed by the King, both in 
Convocation and Parliament, it was not in his power to 
make any alteration without the consent of the same 
authority. 

§. 6. Upon the day of St. Philip and St. James, till the St. Philip 
last review, the church read the eighth chapter of the ^ames** 
Acts for the morning second Lesson, therein commemo- 
rating St. Philip the Deacon ; but now in the room of 
that she appoints part of the first chapter of St. John, 

45 See Mr. Walton's Life of in ilia Die, quae Vigiliam ejus prox- 
Bishop Sanderson, iine seqnitur, non in altera, quae 

46 Advertiseujent to his Trea- propter Bissextum eo Anno in eo- 
tise concerriiDiT St. Matthias's dem Calendario iteratur. Micro- 
day, &c. page 2. log. de Eccltsiast. Obserrat. c. 

47 In Bissextiii Anno Nativita- 47. apud Bibliothec. Patrum, torn, 
tern S. Matthise Apostoli columus x. p. 159. Paris. 1654. 



270 Of the Sundays and Holy-days, 

Chap. V. and coQimemorates only St. Philip the Apostle, and St» 
James the brother of our Lord, the first Bishop of Jeru- 
salem, who wrote the Epistle that bears that name-part 
of which is appointed for the Epistle for the da3^ The 
other St. James, the son of Zebedee, for distinction-sake 
surnamcd the Great, (either by reason of his age or stat- 
ure,) hath another day peculiar to himself in July. 
S(. John §• ^' St. John Baptist's Nativity is celebrated hy rea- 
ihe Bap- son of the wonderful circumstances of it, and on account 
^'vJ'*/^"J'" of the great joy it brought to all those who expected the 
cebblat^d Messiah. There was formerly another day {viz. August 
29.) set apart in commemoration of his Beheading. But 
now the Church celebrates both his Nativity and Death 
on one and the same day ; whereon though his myste- 
rious birth is principally solemnized, yet the chief pas- 
sages of his life and death are severally recorded in the 
portions of Scripture appointed for the day. 
A remark ^. g. I would observe upon the Gospel appointed for 
o'o^petfor ^^^ festival of St. Bartholomew^^ that the parallel place 
St. Bartho- to it in St. Matthew is appointed to be read on St. James's 
loraew's day : and then indeed more properly, it being occasion- 
*^^^' ed by the request of Zebedee's children, of which James 

was one. With submission, therefore, J should think, 
that a more suitable Gospel for the festival of St. Bar- 
tholomew would be John i. 43, to the end, which is the 
historj'- of Nathanael's coming to our Saviour,who is gen- 
erally allowed to be the same with Bartholomew. The 
occasion why that passage in St. Luke was affixed to 
this day was a conceit that St. Bartholomew's noble de- 
scent was the occasion of the strife that is there records 
ed''^. But if this relate to the same dispute which is 
mentioned by two other of the Evangelists, viz, St. Mat- 
thew and St. Mark, it is plain that it was owing to another 
cause. 
St. Mi. §. 9. One day in the year the Church sets apart to ex- 

chael and ppess her thankfulness to God for the many benefits it 
Al!-angels, |^^^^ received by the ministry of holy Angels. And be- 
cause St. Michael is recorded in Scripture as an Angel 
of great power and dignity, and as presiding and watch- 
ing over the Church of God, with a particular vigilance 
and application^^, and triumphing over the devil", it 
therefore bears his name. 

48 Luke xxii. 24—5!. 50 Dan. x. 13. 

49 Petrus de Nalalibus in Cata- 51 Jude 9. Bev. xii. 7. 
Jogo Sanctorum, ]. 7. c. 103. 



and their Collects, Epistles, and Oosptls. 271 

§. 10. The feast of All-Saints is not of very great anti" |ecf. 

quity in the Church. About the year of our Lord G i 0, ^ ^ 

the Pantheon, or temple dedicated to all the gods, at the ^n.saints 
desire of Boniface IV. Bishop of Rome, was taken from day. 
the heathens by Phocas the Emperor, and dedicated to 
the honour of All-Martyrs. Hence came the original 
of All-Saints, which was then celebrated upon the first 
of May : afterwards, by an order of Gregory IV. it was 
removed to the first of November, A. D. 834, where it 
hath stood ever since. And our Reformers having laid 
aside the celebration of a great many Martyrs' days 
which had grown too numerous and cumbersome to the 
Church, thought fit to retain this day, whereon the 
Church, by a general commemoration, returns her thanks 
to God for them all. 

§.11. The Lessons, Collects, Epistles, and Gospels* ^^^ Gol- 
fer all these and the other holy -days, are either such as iect7,Epis- 
bcar a particular relation to the subject of the festival, ties, and 
or at least suitable to the season, as containing excellent ^o^P^'^- 
instructions for holy and examplary lives, it being (as I 
have already noted, page 18T, fee.) the design of the 
Church to excite us to emulate those blessed saints, by 
setting their examples so often before us. They are 
most of them taken from ancient Liturgies, but some 
were (for good reasons) altered and changed at the Re- 
formation.! 



* In all the old Common Prayer Books, at the Epistle for 
the Purification was ordered to he the same that was appoint- 
ed for the Sunday^ and the Gospel for the same day ended 
in the middle of the twenty-seventh verse of the chapter, 
whereas now it is continued to the end of the fortieth. 

t The present Collect for St. Andrew's day was first in- 
serted in the second book of King Edward VI. That which 
was in his first book was this that follows. Almighty God.y 
which hast given such grace to thy Apostle St. Andrew, that he 
counted the sharp and painful death of the Cross to be an high 
honour and great glory ; grant us to take and esteein all trou- 
bles and adversities which shall come unto us for thy sake, as 
things profitable for us towards the obtaining of everlasting life, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The Collect for the conversion of St. Paul in all the old 
books was this. God, which hast taught all the world through 
the preaching of thy blessed Apostle St. Paul, grant, we beseech 
thee, that we, which have his wonderful Conversion in remem- 



272 Of the Sundays and Holy-days, ^c. 

Chap. V. It would not have been foreign to the design of these 
— "■""~~* sheets, to have added in this place a short account of 
the lives of the Apostles and other saints, commemorat- 
ed by our church : but considering that this is done in 
several other books already published, I shall wave the 
doing it in this, being not willing to swell the bulk of it 
with any thing that is better supplied by other hands. 
If the reader be as yet destitute of any thing of this na- 
ture, he cannot better provide himself than with the late 
learned and most excellent Mr. Nelson's Companion for 
the Festivals and Fasts : in which he may not only sa- 
tisfy his curiosity as to the remains we have in history 
concerning those blessed Saints, whose virtues we com- 
memorate ; but he will also be supplied with proper me- 
ditations and devotions for each day : a book which, 
next to the Bible and Common Prayer, and the whole Du- 
ty of Man^ I would heartily recommend as the most use- 
ful one I know, to all sincere members of the Church of 
England. 



hratice^ may follow and fulfil the holy doctrine that he taught, 
t hrough Jesus Christ our Lord. 

In the Collect for the festival of St, Philip and St. James, 
after the way^ the truth, and the life, in the same books fol- 
lowed, as thou hast taught St, Philip and other the Apostles, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



f ( 273 ) 

CHAP. VI. 

Of the Order for the .11 ministration ofthe^ 
LORD'S SUPPER or HOLY COMiVlU.MOX. 

The Introdjuction. 

Whatever benefits we now enjoy, or hope here- The yirfne 
after to receive from Almighty God, they are all pur- oftheEu- 
chased by the death, and must be obtained through the ^ ^^^^ 
intercession of the holy Jesus. We are therefore not 
only taught to mention his name continually in our 
prayers ; but are also commanded, by visible signs, to 
represent and set forth to his heavenly Father his all- 
sufficient and meritorious Death and Sacrifice, as a more 
powerful way of interceding and obtaining the divine 
acceptance. So that what we more compendiously ex- 
press in that general conclusion of our prayers, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord^ we more fully and forcibly repre- 
sent in celebration of the holy Eucharist: wherein we 
intercede on earth, in conjunction with the great inter- 
cession of our high priest in heaven, and plead in the 
virtue and merits of the same sacrifice here, which he is 
continually urging for us there. And because of this 
near alliance between praying and communicating, we 
find the Eucharist was always, in the purest ages of the 
Church, a daily part of the Common Prayer. And 
therefore though the shameful neglect of religion with 
us has made the imitation of this example to be rather 
wished for than expected ; yet it shews us, what excel- 
lent reason our Church had to annex so much of this of- 
fice to the usual service on all solemn days. 

§. 2. As to the primitive and original form of Admin- T^^F'™i° 
istration : since it does not appear that our Saviour pre- of Admini- 
scribed any particular method, most churches took the stration 
liberty to compose Liturgies for themselves ; which per- different 
haps being only the forms used by the founders of each l^'l ^ ^"" 
church, a little altered and enlarged, were, in honour of 
those founders, distinguished by their names. For thus 

* The Title of this Office in the first book of King Ed- 
ward was, The Supper of the Lord^ and the Holy Communion^ 
commonly called the Mass. 

Kk 



274 Of the Order for the Administration 

Chap. VI. the Liturgies of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Rome, have 
"''■""""^* been always called St. James's, St. Mark's and St. Cle- 
ment's. But however none of these being received as of 
divine institution ; therefore St. Basil and St. Chrysostom, 
St. Ambrose and St. Gregory in after-ages, each of them 
composed a Liturgy of their own. And so the excellent 
compilers of our Common Prayer, following their exam- 
ple, no otherwise confined themselves to the Liturgies 
that were before them, than out of them all to extract 
an office for themselves : and which indeed they per- 
formed with so exact a judgment and happy success, 
that it is hard to determine w^hether they more endeav- 
oured the advancement of devotion, or the imitation of 
pure antiquity. 

But Bucer being called in (as I have observed else- 
where) to give his opinion of it, this momentous and 
principal office of our Liturgy had the misfortune to 
suffer very great alterations. Some amendment in the 
method it might possibly have borne ; but the practice 
of foreign churches, and not primitive Liturgies, being 
always with him the standard of Reformation, the most 
ancient forms and primxitive rites were forced to give way 
to modern fancies. It is true, some of these were again 
restored at the last review : but it is still much lamented 
by learned men, that some other additions were not made 
at that time, that so every thing might have been restor- 
ed which was proper or decent, as well as every thing 
left out that was superstitious or offensive. 

§. 3. What these particulars are, shall be shewn here- 
The Cora- ^fter in their proper places. In the mean time I shall 
fice°de°ign- ^^^^ observe, that the office originally was designed to 
edtobe be distinct, and to be introduced with the Litany, as I 
used at a have observed before'^ and consequently to be used at 
fime'7rom ^ ^^i^erent time from Morning Prayers: for in all the 
Morning Common Prayer Books before the last, so many as in- 
Prayer. tended to he partakers of the holy Commimiofi, were to sig' 
nify their names to the Curate over 7iight^ or else in the 
morning before the heginning of morning prayer, or immedi- 
ately ajter» The design of which rubric was partly that 
the minister (by this means knowing the fiumber of his 
communicants) might the better judge how to provide 
the elements of Bread and Wine sufficient for the occasion ; 
but chiefly (as appears from the following rubrics) that 
he might have time to inform himself of the parties who 

32 See pages 164, 165, 



of the Lord'^s Supper, or Holy Communion. ^7& 

intended to receive, that so if there were any among them Sect. L 
not duly qualified, he might persuade them to abstain of ~ ■ ' ^ 
their own accords; or, if they obstinately offered them- 
selves, absolutely reject them. Now the rubric suppos* 
ing, that this might be done immediately after morning 
prayer, as well as before it began, we must necessarily 
infer, that there was sufficient time designed to be allow- 
ed between the two services, for the Curate not only tq 
provide the elements, but also to confer with and advise 
his Communicants, 1 know indeed that Alesse, in his 
translation of the Liturgy for the use of Bucer, applies 
the word after to the beginning of morning prayer, trans^ 
lating the rubric (though without either reason or author^ 
ity) after this manner : Qnotquot cupiunt participes fieri 
sacrcB Communionis, indicabunt nomina sua Pastori pridie, 
aut mane, priusquam inchoentur Malutinm, vel immediate 
post principium : which another Latin translation pub- 
lished in Queen Elizabeth's time expresses plainer, vel 
immedialepost principium matuiinarum precum. But how 
is it possible that the Curate could either take their 
names, or confer with those that came, whilst he was oth- 
erwise employed in reading morning prayers ? The 
words immediately after therefore must plainly refer to 
the ending of morning prayers ; after which, those who 
had not offered themselves before, were required to come 
and signify their names, that so the Curate might know 
what sort of persons he should have to communicate with 
him, before he proceeded to the Communion-Office. 
This rubric indeed was altered at the last review; so 
that now all that intend to communicate, are required 
to -signify their names at least some time the day before. 
But then the design of this alteration was not that both 
offices should be united in one, but that the Curate might 
have a more competent time to inquire of and consult 
with those that offered themselves to communicate*^ 
The offices are still as distinct as ever, and ought still 
to be read at different times. A custom which Bishop Over- 
all says was observed in his time in York and Chi^ 
Chester" ; and the same practice, Mr. Johnson tells us, 
prevailed at Canterbury long since the Restoration, as it 
did very lately, if it does not still at the cathedral of ^ov- 

S' 
53 See the Account of all the that passed between the Commis- 
Proceedinga of the commissioners sioners, p. 129. 
1661, page 15, and the Papers 54 See Dr. Nicholas additiona 

Notes, page 36. 



276 Of the Order for the Admimslraiion 

Giiap. VI. cester*^ It is certain that the Communion-Office still eve- 

"~ ry where retains the old name of the Second Service ; and 

Bishop Overall, just now mentioned, imputes it to the 

negligence of ministers, and the carelessness of people, 

that they are ever huddled together into one office. 

Sect. I. Of the Rubrics before the Communion-Office. 

The Minis- T ROM what has been said just now above, the design 

ters to be of the first Rubric sufficiently appears, viz. That the 

ir ^fi- ness Curate, by knowing, at least some time the day before^ the 

of their names of all that intend to be partakers of the holy Com^ 

Corauui- rn>inion^ may judge what quantity of Bread and Wine 

cants. ^jj] [-JP sufficient, and also may have time enough to learn, 

whether those that offer themselves to the Communion 

are fit to receive. For, 

Rubric 2. §. 2. If any of those be an open or notorious evil liver ^ or 

3- And /^gfpg ^Q^ie, any wrong to his neighbours by word or deed, so 

r to repel '^^^ ^^^^ Congregation be thereby offended ; the Curate, hav- 

scanda- ing knowledge thereof shall call him and advertise him, that 

lous offeh- in any wise he presume not to come to the Lord's table until 

^®"- he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented, and 

amended hisjormer naughty Ife, that the Congregation may 

thereby be satisfied, ivhich before were offended ; and that he 

hath recompensed the parties, to whom he hath done wrong, 

qr ctt least declare himself to be in full purpose so to do, as 

soon as he conveniently may. 

The same Order shall the Curate use with those between 
zchom he percc.iveth malice and hatred to reign : not suffer- 
ing them to be partakers of the Lord''s table, until he know 
them to be reconciled. And if any one of the parties so at 
variance be content to forgive, from the bottom of his heart, 
all that the other hath trespassed against him, and to make 
amends for that he himself hath offended ; and the other par^ 
ty will not be persuaded to a 9,odly unity, but remain still in 
his frowardness and malice ; the Minister in that case ought 
(0 admit the penitent person to the holy Communion, and not 
tim that is obstinate » 

N'' V here we must distinguish between absolutely re- 
p ^ and shutting out any one from the Communion, as 
b^, /judicial act, and only suspending him for a time, till 
the'7 jnibtcr has opportunity to send his case to the or- 
dinary. The first of these is what the rubric cannot 
be understood to impl}': for by the laws of the land, 
both eccl(?siastical and civil, none are to be shut out from 
this Sacrament, but such as are notorious delinquents, and 
55 ( 'lergyniau'b Vade Mecum, p. 12, third edition. 



of the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion, 277 

iione are notorious but such as the sentence of the law Sect. I. 

hath either upon their own confession, or full conviction, ' 

declared so to be. And this is conformable both to the 
Imperial Edict, and the practice of the Church, as long 
ago as St. Austin. '1 he lirst hath this established law ; 
" We prohibit all, both Bishop and Presbyters, from 
" shutting out any one from the Communion, before some 
** just cause be shewn for which the holy canons re- 
*• quire it to be done^^". And as to the ancient usage, 
St Austin speaks very plain ; '^ We cannot saith he, 
" repel any man from the Communion, unless he has 
*' freely confessed his offence, or hath been accused and 
" convicted m some ecclesiastical consistory, or secular 
■" court." 

But now all this plainly refers to the power of seclud- 
ing from the Communion judicially and with authority ; 
vi^hereas the design of this rubric is only to enable the 
Curate to refuse to administer to any of his congrega^ 
tion (of whose ill life and behaviour he has received 
sudden notice) till he can have opportunity of laying his 
ease before the ordinary. For by a clause, added at 
the last review, it is provided^ That every Minister, so re- 
pelling any, as is specijied in this, or the next precedent par^ 
agraph of this rubric, shall be obliged to give an account of 
the same to the ordinary, within fourteen days after at the 
farthest, and the ordinary is to proceed against the offend- 
in\r person according to the canon. The hundred and 
ninth canon, I suppose, is meant, which requires the or- 
dinary to punish all such notorious offenders by the severi- 
ty of the laws, and not to admit them to the Communion till 
they be reformed. 

But here I know it may be objected, that the persons 
whom the Curate is by this rubric empowered to repel, 
are declared to be such as are notorious evil livers, and 
that 1 have already allowed that none are notorious but 
such as the sentence of the law has declared so to be. 
But to this I answer, that notoriety in this place is taken 
in a lower degree ; the rubric using the words open and 
notorious for the same thing, and explaining those to be 
notorious by whom the congregation is offended. That it; 
cannot mean those whom the law has declared to be 
notorious, is pldin, because such are supposed to be al- 
ready shut out from the Communion, and consequently 
the Curate must himself have received notice from his 
Ordinary not to admit them : whereas the persons, whom 

56 Novel. 123. c. 11. CoUat. 9. Tit. 15. c. 11. 



278 Of the, Order for the Administration 

^,!!I!LL^' ^^^^ rubric provides against, are such as the Ordinary is 
"" supposed not jet to have heard of, whom therefore it re- 
quires the Curate to send him notice of, in order that he 
m^y proceed against them according to law ; and whom, 
in the mean while, the Curate is empowered by this ru- 
bric (which itself is a law, being established by the Act 
of Unformity) to refuse the Comunion, if, after due ad- 
monition Jo keep away, he obstinately ofiers himself to 
receive : insomuch that no damage from any prior law 
can accrue to him from a conscientious execution of the 
latter. And that this is no novel or unnecessary power 
is plain from the practice of the ancient Church ; in 
which though all open offenders, as soon as known, were 
put under censure, yet if before censure they offered 
themselves at the Communion, they were repelled. This 
is evident from St. Chrysostom", who does not more 
earnestly pre.ss the duty, than he does plainly assert the 
authority of the sacerdotal power to effect it. " Lei 
^' no Judas," saith he, " no lover of money be present at 
" this table ; he that is not Christ's disciple, let him dc- 
" part from it. Let no inhuman, no cruel person, no 
" uncompassionate man, or unchaste, come hither. I 
" speak this to you that administer^ as well as to those that 
" partake : for it is necessary I speak these things to 
" you, that you may take great care, and use your ut- 
" most diligence to distribute these offerings aright. 
'' For no small punishment hangeth over your heads, if 
" knowing any man to be wicked, you suffer him to be 
" partaker of this table ; for his blood shall be required 
*' at your hands. Wherefore if he be a General, or a 
" provincial Governor, or the Emperor himself, that 
" Cometh unworthily, forbid him and keep him off; thy 
" power is greater than his. If any such get to the Ta- 
" bie, reject him without fear. If thou darest not re- 
" move him, tell it me : I will not suffer it, 1 will yield 
*• my life rather than the Lord's Body to any unworthy 
" person : and suffer my own blood to be shed, before [ 
" will grant that sacred JJlood to any but to him that is 
" worthy." 

But here again it has been objected, that " all persons, 
" before they are admitted into any office, are obliged 
*' by our laws to receive the Sacrament as a Qualifcalion ; 
'• consequently that the Minister is obliged by the same 
" laws to admit any person that offers himself upon this 
^* occasion, to the holy Communion, however unfit he 

57 Chrysost. Horn. 83. in Malt. xxvi. 



of the Lord''s Supper^ or Holy Communion, 279 

** may have rendered himself by his life and actions." i?ect. L 
But in answer to this, it must be considered, that the - 
power which Christ himself invested his Church with, of 
admitting persons into her Communion, and excKidiu!:; 
them from it, is what no human laws can deprive her of. 
And therefore when the laws require men to receive 
this holy Sacrament to qualify themselves for offices, 
they always suppose that they must first qualify them- 
selves according to the holy laAVS of the Churcl], which 
are founded on those of the Gospel. So thai it would 
be a very great injury to our legislators (as being a very 
uncharitable opinion of them) to imagine, that if an un- 
baptized, or excommunicate person, a Deist, or notori- 
ous sinner, should happen to obtain an office, that they 
intend to oblige the Church to admit persons, under these 
bad dispositions, to be partakers of the Blessed Eucharist. 
The primitive Church was so cautious in this resptct, 
that even persons in the highest stations were rejected, 
if they offered themselves unworthily. Of which we 
have a remarkable instance in the case of the Emperor 
Theodosius whom St. Ambrose boldlj^ and openly refus- 
ed, upon the commission of a barbarous crinic. The 
story being worth the reader's notice, I shall therefore 
give it him in few words. There being a sedition among 
the people of Thessalonica, the Emperor ordered the 
guard to fallen them in heat, who in that hurry and con- 
fusion destroyed several thousands of these poor wretch- 
es. Soon after which he coming to Milan, was going to 
offer himself at St Ambrose's church to receive the 
Communion. But the good Bishop (when he heard of 
it) met him courageously at the church doors, and oblig- 
ed him to return, and first repent himself of his crime. 
'' With what eyes,"saith he, " can you behold the Tem- 
'* pie of him who is the common Lord of all ? With what 
" feet can you tread this holy place? How can you 
" put out those hands to receive the blessed Elements, 
" which are yet reeking with innocent blood ? How can 
" you take the precious blood into that mouth, which 
" gave out such barbarous and bloody orders ? Depart 
" therefore, and take heed that you do not increase your 
" first crime by a second. Submit yourself to the bond 
" which the Lord of the world has been pleased to bind 
" you with, which is only medicinal, and intended to 
*• work your cure*8." This repulse the Emperor acqui- 
^ esced in, and offered himself no more to those. holy rites. 

58 Theod. Hist, Eocl. 1. :V 



280 



Of the Order for the Administration 



Chap. VI. 



Other per- 
sons dis- 
qualified 
from Com- 
XDunicat 
ing, are 
Schisma- 
iics. 



Persons 
not con- 
firmed. 



And stran- 
gers from 
other pa- 
rishes. 

Rubric 4. 
Concern- 
ins: the 



till he had in tears repented of the sad effects of his hiis- 
ty anger. I have chosen to give this instance, because 
it is what the Church of England has thought fit to re- 
cord in her Homilies, and to mention with marks of ap- 
probation and applause''^ 

But besides persons excommunicated, and those above- 
mentioned, there are other persons, by the laws of our 
Church, disabled from communicating : such as are of 
course all Schismatics, to whom no Minister^ when he ct- 
hhraieth the Communion^ is wittingly to administer the 
same, under pain of suspensions^*. But of these too, un- 
less they have been legally convicted, the Minister who 
repels them is obliged upon complaint, or being required by 
the Ordinary, to signify the cause thereof unto him, and 
therein to obey his order and directions'^. And farther, by 
a rubric at the end of the Order of Confirmation, none 
are to be admitted to the holy Communion, until such time 
as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed. 
The like provision is made by cur Provincial Consti- 
tutions, which allow none to communicate (unless at the 
point of death) but such as are confirmed, or at least 
have a reasonable impediment for not being confirmed^^ : 
and the Glossary allows no impediment to be rea= 
sonable, but the want of a Bishop near the place. And 
lastly, all strangers from other parishes ; the Minister is 
by the canons^^ required to forbid, and to remit such home 
to their own Parish-Churches and Ministers, there to receive 
the Communion with the rest of their neighbours. 

§. 3. The last rubric concerning the Coi?ermg and Situ- 
ation of the Communion Table, was first added in the 



59 'In ihp second part of the 
Homily of the right u?e of the 
church. 

60 Can. '27 *. 



61 Ibid. 

62 Prov. Linvv. cap. de sacra. 
Unct. 

63 Can 28. 



* Archdeacon Sharp as quoted by Shepherd observes that '* though- 
the 27lh Canon intitled Schismatics not to be admitted to the Com.' 
inimion is express for their exclusion, yet both the common Lawyers 
and the Civilians have given it as their opinion, that Schismatics not 
lying under any ecclesiastical censure,and humbly and devoutly desiring 
the siicrament, are not to be withheld from it, notwithstanding the direc- 
tion of tlie Canon." And in a note to this paragrajih, Shepherd remarks 
"that this matter was thoroughly considered in the case of Mr. Richard 
Baxter, is the famous non-couformist, if he may be called so, who con- 
stantly attended the Church Service and Sacrament in the parish where 
he lived, at those times when he was not engaged at his own meeting"- 
hoGse.'" •^m. Ed^ 



of tilt Lord^s Supper, or Holy Commiimon, 231 

second Common Prayer Book of King Edward VI. ^^^** '• 
there being no other rubric in his fir&t book than this, "" 1 
7]he Priest^ standing humhly afore the middes of the Altar^ ^j^^ Cq^^. 
shall sait the Lord^s Prayer^ 4^c.* For Altar was the name muniou 
by which the holy Board was constantly distinguished for table, 
the first three hundre 1 years after Christ; during all 
which time it does not appear that it was above once 
called Table^ and that was in a letter of Dionysius of 
Alexandria to Xystus of Rome. And when in the fourth 
century Athanasius called it a Table, he thought himself 
obliged to explain the word, and to let the reader know 
that by Table he meant Jltar, that being then the con- 
stant and familiar name^*. Afterwards indeed both 
names came to be promiscuously used ; the one having 



* In the first book of Kin^ Edward also, before this rubric, 
there was another inserted in relation to the Habits, which 
the Ministers were to wear at the Communion, which I have 
already given in page 99, &c. to which was annexed this 
that follows, Then shall the Clerks sing in English for the 
Office or Introit (^as they call it^ a Psalm appointed for that 
day. The Introitsalso I have already spoke to in page 216. 
Though I do not know how to reconcile this order for sing- 
ing it before the Minister begins the office, with another 
rubric which stands in the same book immediately after the 
prayer. Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open^ &c. which 
orders that the Priest then shall say a Psalm appointed for 
the Introit : which Psalm ended, the Priest was also then to 
say, or else the Clerks were to sing. 

Ill Lord have mercy upon us. 
Ill Christ have mercy upon its. 
Ill Lord have mercy upon us - 
Then the Priest standing at God'^s Board was to begin, 
Glory bf. to God on high. 
The Clerks. 
And in earth peace, good-will towards men ; and so on to 
the end of the hymn in our present Post-Communion Office, 
Then the Priest was to turn him to the people, and say^ 
The Lord be with you. 

Answer. 

And with thy Spirit. 

The Priest. 

Let us pray. 

And then came the Collect tor the Day, and one of the 

Collects for the King. 

64 See all this proved in Mr. Johnson's Unbloodv Sacrifice, &c. cbap^ 
^h sect. 3, vol. i. page 300, &c. 

L L 



282 Of the Order for the Administration 

Oiiap.VL respect to the Oblation of the Eucharist, the other to the 
■"""^^ — Participation : but it was alwa^'s placed Altar-wise in the 
most sacred part of the church, and fenced in with rails 
to secure it from irreverence and disrespect. 

But at the beginning of the reformation, an ujihappy 
dispute arose, viz. Whether those tables of the Altar- 
fashion, which had been used in the Popish times, and 
on which Masses had been celebrated, should still be 
continued ; this point was first started by Bishop Hoop- 
er, who, in a sermon before the King in the fourth year 
of his reign, declared, " That it would do well, that it 
" might please the magistrate, to turn Altars into Tables^ 
" according to the first institution of Christ ; to take away 
" the false persuasion of the people, which they have of 
" Sacrifice, to be done upon the Ahars ; for as long, 
•' says he, as Altars remain, both the ignorant people 
" and the ignorant and evil persuaded priest will always 
" dream of Sacrifce^^.'^'' This occasioned not only a 
couple of letters from the King and Council, one of 
which was sent to all the Bishops of London ; (in both 
which they were required to pull down the Altars;) 
but also that, when the Liturgy was reviewed in 1551, 
the abovesaid rubric was altered, and in the room of it 
the present one was inserted, viz. The Table having at 
the Communion time a fair white linen cloth vpon it, shall 
stand in the body of the church, or in the chancel, where 
morning and evening prayer are appointed to be said* And 
the Priest standing at the North side of the Table, shall say 
the Lord'^s Prayer with the Collect following. But this 
did not put an end to the controversy ; another dispute 
arising, viz. Whether the Table placed in the room of 
the Altar ought to stand Altar-wise, i. e. in the same 
place and situation as the Altar formerly stood ? This 
was the occasion that in some churches the Tables were 
placed in the middle of the chancels, in others at the 
East part thereof next to the wall; some again placing 
it endwise, and others placing it at length^. Bishop 
Ridlcj endeavoured to compromise this matter, and 
therefore, in St. Paul's Cathedral, suffered the Table to 
stand in the place of the old Altar; but beating down 
the wainscot partition behind, laid all the choir open to 
the East, leaving the table then to stand in the middle of 
the chanceF^, which indeed was more agreeable to th^ 

65 See Heylin^s Antidot. Lin- testants, page 81, printed Anno 
oo'ii. page 10.5. 1556, as cited in lleyJio's Antidot. 

66 iliiggard's Display of Pro- Lincoln, page 50. 

67 Acts and Monuments, Part II. p. 700. 



of the Lord\' Supper, or Holy. Communion. 283 

primitive custom"'. Under this diversity of usage, things Sect. I. 

went on till the death of King Edward ; when Queen 

Mary coming to the throne, Altars were again restored 
wherever they had been demolished : but her reign prov- 
ing short, and Queen Elizabeth succeeding her, the peo- 
ple, (just got free again from the tyranny of Popery,) 
through a mistaken zeal, fell in a tumultuous manner to 
the pulling down of Altars: though indeed this happen- 
ed for the generality only in private churches, they not 
being meddled with in any of the Queen's Palaces, and 
in but very few of the Cathedrals. And as soon as the 
Queen was sensible of what had happened in other pla- 
ces, she put out an injunction*® to restrain the fury of the 
people, declaring it to be no matter of great moment, 
whether there were Altars or Tables, so that the Sacrament 
was duly and reverently administered ; but ordering, that 
where an Altar was taken down a holy Table should be 
decently made, and set in the place where the Altar stood, 
and there commonly covered as thereto belonged, and as 
should be appointed by the Visitor, and so to stand, saving 
when the communion of the Sacrament was to be distributed ; 
at which time the same was to be placed in good sort within 
the Chancel, as thereby the Minister might be more con- 
veniently heard of the Communicants in his prayer and 
ministration, and the Communicants also more conveniently 
and in more number communicate with the said Minister* 
And after the Communion done, from time to time the same 
holy Table zoas to be placed where it stood before. Now it 
is plain from this injunction, as well as from the eighty- 
second canon of the Church, (which is almost verbatim 
the same,) that there is no obligation arising from this 
rubric to move the Table at the time of the Communion, 
unless the people cannot otherwise conveniently hear 
and communicate. The injunction declares, that the 
holy Table is to be set in the same place where the Altar stood^ 
which every one knows was at the East end of the chan« 
eel. And when both the injunction and canon speak 
of its being moved at the time of the Communion, it 
supposes that the minister could not otherwise be heard : 
the interposition of a belfry between the chancel and 
body of the church (as I have already observed, page 
\ 12, &c.) hindering the minister in some churches from 
being heard by the people, if he continued in the chan^ 

68 See Bingham's Antiquities, 69 See the Injunction in Bishop 

1. 8. c. 6. f. 11. Sparrow's Collection, page 84= 



384 Of the Order for the Adminislralion 

Chap. VI. eel. So that we are not under any obligation to move 

— the Table, unless necessity requires. But whenever the 

churches are built so as the. Minister can he heard, and 
conveniently administer the Sacrament at the place where 
the Tabic usually stands, he is rather obliged to admin- 
ister in the chancel, as appears from the rubric before 
the Commandments, as also from that before the Absolu- 
tion, by both which rubrics the Priest is directed to turn 
himself to the People. From whence I argue, that if- the 
Table be in the middle of the Church, and the People 
consequently round about the Minister, the Minister 
cannot turn himself to the People any more at one time 
than another. Whereas if the Table be close to the 
East wall, the Minister stands on the North side, and 
looks Southward, and consequently, by looking West- 
ward, turns himself la the People. 

§. 4. Wherever it be placed, the Priest is obliged to 
The Priest stand at the North side, {or end thereof as the Scotch Lit- 
why to urgy expresses it; v/hich also orders, that it shall stand 
tlr^N \l ^^ uppermost part of the Chancel or Church,) the de- 
side of the sign of which is, that the Priest may be the better seen 
Table. and heard ; which, as our Altars are now placed, he 
cannot be but at the North or South side. And there- 
fore the North side, being the right-hand or upper side 
of the Altar, is certainly thetnost proper for the ojiciat- 
ing Priest, that so the assisting Minister (if there be one) 
may not be obliged to stand above him. And Bishop 
Beveridge has shewn that wherever, in the ancient Lit- 
urgies, the Minister is directed to stand before the Altar, 
the North side of it is always meant^°. 

§. 5. The covering of the Altar with a fair while linen 
The Table cloth at the time of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, 
to be GOV- -y^^as ^ Primitive practice", enjoined at first, and retained 
aTineT^^ ever since for its deccncj^. In the Sacramentary of St. 
cloth. Gregory ^^, this covering is called Palla Altaris, the Pall 
of the Altar; to distinguish it, I suppose, from the Cor- 
poris Palla, or the cloth that was thrown over the conse- 
crated Elements. And the Scotch Liturgy orders, that 
the holy Table at the Communion time should have a carpel, 
and a fair white linen cloth upon it, with other decent furni- 
ture, meet for the high mysteries there to be celebrated. And 
by our own canons'^^, at all other times, when divine ser- 

70 Bev. Pandect, vol. ii. pag^e 71 Optat. Milev. ]. 6. p. 113. 

76. }. 15, See also Renaudotius's Hieion. in Ep. ad Nepotianuoa. 
Liturgies, torn. ii. p. 24, 72 In Ord. Diac. 

73 Can. 82. 



of ihe LoriVs Supper, or Holi) Communion, 283 

vice is performed, it is to be covered with a carpet of silk, ^^^^' *• 
or rather decent stuff, thought meet by the Ordinary of the ' 

place, if any question be made of it ; which was originally 
designed for the clean keeping of the said [white linen] 
cloth'^^', though the chief use of it now is for ornament 
and decency. 

Sect. II. Of the Lord^s Prayer, 

-I HERE can be no fitter beeinning for this sacred or- ._„ , 

T 1-1 1- 1 '^ I 11^ 1 ^. • /• • Why used 

dmance, which so pecuuarly challengeth Christ for its ^^ (j^e be- 

aulhor, than that divine prayer which owes its original ginning of 
to the same Person, and which St. Jerom tells us"^ ^^^ <^ffi^^* 
Christ taught his Apostles, on purpose that they should 
jise it at the holy Communion. To which the primitive 
fathers thought it so peculiarly adapted, that they gene- 
rally expounded that petition, Give us this day our daily 
Bread, of the Body of Christ, the Bread of Life, which, 
in those times they daily received for the nourishment 
of their souls^®. 

Sect. III. Of the Collect for Purity, 

As the people were to be purified before the first pub- 
lication of the Law'", so must we have clean hearts be- bgfore"the 
fore we be fit to hear it; lest, if our minds be impure, Command- 
Sin take occasion by the Commandment to stir upconcupis- ments. 
cence^^ : for prevention of which, when the Command- 
ments were added in the second book of King Edward, 
it was thouejht proper that this form should immediately 
precede them ; not but that the form itself was in our 
first Liturgy, and, as far as appears, in the oldest offices 
of the Western Church. 

Sect. IV". Of the Ten Commandments, 

These divine precepts of the moral Law as much How aptly 
oblige Christians as they did the Jews ; we vowed to placed 
keep them at our baptism, and we renew that vow at here, 
every Communion : and therefore it is very fit we should 
hear them often, and especially at those times when we 
are going to make fresh engagements to observe them. 

74 See an order of Queen Eli- 76 Tert. de Orat. Dom. c. 6. 
zabeth, A. D. 1561, in Heylin's p, 131. D. 132. A. Cjprian. in 
Antidot. Lincoln, page 45. Orat. Dom. p. 146, 147. 

75 Hieron. adv. Pelag. 1. 3. c. 77 Exod.xix. 14. 
5. torn. ii. n. 596, C. 78 Rom. vii. 8. 



236 Of the Order for the Admimstraiion 

^^^P* ^ ^- Upon which account, since we are to confess all our sins 
before we come to this blessed Sacrament of pardon, the 
Church prudently directs the Minister, now standing in 
the most holy place, to turn himself to the People^^ and 
from thence, like another Moses from Mount Sinai, to 
convey God's Laws to them, % rehearsing distinctly all 
the Ten Commandment s't ; by which, as in a glass, they 
may discover all their oifences, and, still knedmg, may, 
after every Commandment^ ask God mercy for their trans' 
gression thereof (i, e. as the Scotch Liturgy expresses it, 
of every duty therein according to the letter, or to the mys' 
iical importance of the said Commandment) jfor the timepasi, 
and grace to keep the same for the time to comeX* 

Sect. V. Of the two Collects for the King. 

leJs for" S'^' ^^^^ seems to command that we should pray for 
the King. Kings in all our prayers^^ : and in the primitive Church 
they always supplicated for their Princes at the time of 
the celebration of the holy Eucharist^^ ; where, by vir- 
tue of the sacrifice of Christ's death commemorated, 
those great requests might be likely to prevail. 
Why plac- §. 2. In our Liturgy these prayers do not (as in the 

* This direction of turning to the People was first added in 
the Scotch Liturgy. 

t The ten Commandments were not in the first English Liturgy of 
1549, nor do they now make a part of any other Liturgy ancient or 
modern. They were first inserted at the review of Edward's Liturgy 
in 1552, with a design to awaken the consciences of those who came 
to the Holy Commnuion. For this purpose they were placed immedi- 
ately after the Collect for purity, and before the Epistle and Gospel. 
But although the practice is modern, and peculiar to our Liturgy, it is 
one which requires neither vindication nor apology. It is an excel- 
lent preparative to Communion, that every one should examine his lifo^ 
and conversation by the rule of God's commandments. " If there be 
any," says Bishop Sparrow, "that think thismig-ht be spared, as being- 
fitter for poor publicans than Saints ; let them turn to the parable of 
the publican and pharisee going up to the temple to pray, St. Luke 18, 
and there they shall receive an answer." ^m. Ed. 

I These latter words, /or the time past, fyc. were added at 
the last review : though indeed no part of the rubric, nor of 
the Commandments themselves, were in the first book of 
King Edward VL nor, as far as I can find, in any ancient 

Liturgy^ 

79 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. S. Bas. Vide Euseb. de Vita Con- 

80 Liturg. S. Jacob. S, Chrys. stant. I. 4. c. 45. p. 54^. 



of the Lord's Supper^ or Holy CommunioTU 287 

Roman Missal) disturb the prayer of Consecration, but, Sect. I. 
as the office is now compiled, are more conveniently pla- "" ~ 
cedhere: the King is Gustos uiriusque ^aftu/^, defender (^^"^6 
of both tables of the Law, and therefore we properly pray Command- 
for him just after the Commandments. Nor do our ments. 
prayers for him less aptly precede the daily Collect : 
since when we have prayed for outward prosperity to 
the .Church, the consequent of the King's welfare, we 
may very seasonably in the Collect pray for inward 
grace, to make it completely happy^. For variety here 
are two prayers, but they tend to the game end, and 
only differ a little in the form, t 

Sect. VI. Of the Collect^ Epistle, and Gospel, 

It is evident, that long before the dividing of the Bible Of the col- 
into chapters and verses, it was the custom both of the ^^*' *^* 
Greek and Latin Churches to read some select portions 
of the plainest and most practical parts of the New Tes- 
tament, first for the Epistle, and then for the gospel, at 
the celebration of the holy Eucharist^^, in imitation per- 
haps of the Jewish mode of reading the history of the 
Passover before the eating of the Paschal Lamb*^. 

§. 2. As for the antiquity, matter, and suitableness of ^^y ^^? 
the several Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, I have alrea- jg^rfirst! 
dy spoken at large. I shall only make this one remark 
more, that as our Saviour's disciples went before his face 
to every city and place, whither he himself would come^^ ; so 
here the Epistle, as the word of the Servant, is read first, 
that it may be a harbinger to the Gospel, to which the 
last place and greatest honour is reserved, as being the 
word of their great Master. And for this reason I sup- 

*lQall the former Common Prayer Books, except the 
Scotch, it seems as if the Collect for the day was used be- 
fore that for the King. For the old rubric was this : Then 
shall follow the Collect fer the Day, with one of these tn^o Col- 
lects following for the King. 

t Id the American Prayer Book for obvious reasons these two prayers 
are omitted *, and in their stead is substituted the second of the six col- 
lects, placed in the English Liturgy at the end of the Communion Ser- 
vice, beginning, O, Almighty Lord and Everlasting God, vou,^h=afp. &c. 

^^m. Ed. 

81 Just. Mart. Ap. 1. Clem. 82 Buxtorf. Lex. Chwld. 

Const. Apost. lib. 2. c. 56; 57. 83 Luke. x. L 



288 



Of ihe Order for the Administration 



Chap. VI. pose it was ordered by the advertisements published iii 

— the beventh year of Queen £hzabeth% and by the twen- 

fud Gos- ^y"^°"^^" ^i ^Lii' present caaons, that the principal Min- 
peler, why ^^^^^' ^^ ^^^ celebration of the Communion, should be 
appointed, assisted wtth a Gospelti and Kpistter agreeably ; i, e. with 
one IVJ mister to read tne Epistle, and another to read the 
Gospel, as is still generally the custom in cathedral 
churches ; which was also provided for by the rubrics 
in King Edward's hrst book, which orders that thePnest^ 
or he that is appointed^ shall read ihe Lpislle in a place aS' 
signed for that purpose^ (which from the modern practice 
1 take to be on the South side of the Table ; ) and that 
immediately after the Epistle ended, the Priest, or one ap- 
pointed, (wnich as appears from the next rubric, might 
be a Deacon,) stiall read the Gospel. 

§. 3. 1 he custom of saying Ulory be to thee, Lordy 
Thecus- Yvhen the Minister was about to read the holy Gospel, 

tomofsay- , ,- ,ini-, • m^ i \ ^ i 

ing, Glory ^'^d 01 Singing HaLielujah, or saymg, 1 hanks be to Ood 
be to for his holy Gospel, wtien he had concluded it, is as old 
as St. Cniysostom^^' j but we have no authority for it 
in our present Liturgj'.* The first indeed was enjoined 
by King Edward's hrst Common Prayer Book, and so 
the custom has continued ever since ; and 1 do not find 
how it came to be left out of the rubric afterwards. It 
certainly could have nothing objected against it, and 
therefore it is restored in tne Scotch Liturgy ; which 
also ordered, that uhen the Fresbyter shall say, so end- 
eth the Holy Gospel, the people shall answer, 1 hanks be to 
thee, O Lord, in our own Common Prayer iiook the 
Priest has no direction to say the Gospel is ended ; the 
reason of which some imagine to be, because it is still 
continued in the Creed that lolloweth. 

§. 4. i\\ St. Augustine's time the people always stood 
when the Lessons were read, to shew their reverence to 
God's holy woru^° : but afterwards when this was 
thought too great a burden, they were allowed to sit 
down at the Lessons, and were only obhged to stand 
(as our present order, which was first inserted in the 
Scotch Common Prayer Book, now enjoins us) at the 



thee. O 
Lord. &c. 
of what 
antiquity. 



Standing 
up at (he 
Gospel, 
why com 
manded. 



* This ren^ark does not apply to the American Liturgy, in which the 
injunction in the lirbl prayer book ol' King £dward has been restored 
to the rubric. •^'«. E,d. 

84 In Bii-hop Sparrow ""s CoUec- 86 Augustin. Serm. 300. in Ap- 

tiou, pi-.ge 124, 125. peud. ad turn. v. cqU 5^4- B .• 

86 Liiuig. S. Chrys. 



afihe Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion. 289 

reading of the Gospel", which always contains some- Sect. VIT. 

thing that our Lord did speak, or saffered in his own " 

person. By which gesture they shewed they had a 
greater respect to the Son of God himself, than they had 
to any other inspired person, though speaking the word 
of God, and by God's authority. 

Sect. VII. Of the Nicene Creed. 

As the Apostle'^s Creed is placed immediately after the "VVhy pla.- 
daily Lessons, so is this after the Epistle and Gospel ; JjfV^-Ti^ 
both of them being founded upon the doctrine of Christ and Gos- 
and his Apostles. As therefore in the foregoing por- pel. 
lions of Scripture we believe with our heart to righteousness, 
so in the Creed that follows, we confess with our mouth 
to salvation, 

§. 2. This fs commonly called the Kicene Creed, as An ac- 
being, for the greatest part, the Creed that was drawn count of it. 
up by the first general council of Nice, in the year 325, 
but enlarged by a fuller explication of some articles 
about the year 3B1, especially in relation to the divinity 
and procession of the Holy Ghost, in order to a more 
particular confutation and suppression of the Arian and 
Macedonian heresy. For which reason it was enjoined 
by the third council of Toledo to be recited by all the 
people in Spain before the Sacrament, to shew that they 
were all free from heresy, and in the strictest league of 
union with the Catholic Church^^ And since in this 
Sacrament we are to renew our baptismal vow% (one 
branch of which was, that we would believe all the Arti* 
des of the Christian Faith,) it is very requisite that, be- 
fore we be admitted, we should declare that we stand 
firm in the belief of those articles. 

Sect. VII F. Of the Rubric after the Nicene Creed. 

A. FTER the Creed follows a rubric of directions, in- The rnhr'ie 
structing the Priest what he is to publish, or make <>/ direc- 
known to the people. I do not find any such rubric in ^'°'^^* 
the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward VI. and 
in all the rest quite down to the Restoration, a declara- 
tion of the Holy-days only was ordered to be made after 
the Sermon or Homily was ended, 

§. 2. This is the first thing our rubric mentions now, why th& 

Curate iS 
87 Const. Ap. 1. 2. c. 56. Ni- Ep. 136. Soz. 1. 7. c. 19. to bid Ho- 

<cepl>. 1. 9. c. 18. hid. Pelus. 1. 1. 88 Can. 2. torn. v. col. 1009, E, ^j days. 

Mm 



290 Of the Order for the Adnunlstration 

^^^^P' ^ ^' VIZ' that Ihe Curate shall declare unto the people what holy 
days or fasting-days are in the rijeek follozving to be observ- 
ed* The first reason of which was, lest the people 
should observe any such days as had been formerly 
kepi, but w^ere laid aside at the Reformation ; and there- 
fore the Bishops inquired in their visitations, whether any 
of their Curates bid any other days than were appointed by 
the nezo calenda/^'^. This danger is now pretty well over ; 
there being no great fear of the people's observing 
superstitious holy-days. But there is still as much rea- 
son for keeping up the rubric, since now they are run 
into a contrary extreme, and, instead of observing too 
many holy-days, regard none ; which makes it fit that 
the Curate should discharge his duty, by te'.iing them 
beforehand what holj^-days will happen, and then leav- 
ing it upon his people to answer for the neglect, if they 
are passed over w^ithout due regard. 
When (o §* ^* *^"^ ^^^^ "^^^ (i/* ^^^^f^^^^'^ ^^) shall notice be given 

give notice of the Communion : though by another rubric, just before 
of the the first exhortation, this is supposed to be done after 
Commun- Sermon. For there it is ordered, that when ihe minister 
giveth warning for ihe celebration of the holy Communion, 
(which he shall always do upon the Sunday, or some Holy^ 
day immediately preceding^ after the Sermon or Homily 
endcd^ he shall read the exhortation following. The occa- 
sion of this difference was the placing of this rubric of 
directions, at the last review, before the rubric concern- 
ing the Sermon or Homily. For by all the old Com- 
mon Prayer Books immediately after the Nicene Creed, 
the Sermon was ordered ; and then after that ike Curate 
was to declare unto the people, whether there zccre any holy- 
days or fas ling-days in the zceek following, aytd earnestly to 
exhort them to remember the poor, by reading one or more 
of the sentences as he thought most convenient by his discre- 
tion. This was the whole of that rubric then. All the 
remaining part was added at the Restoration, as was al- 
so the rubric above cited just before the Exhortation. 
Now it is plain by that rubric, that the warning to the 
Communion was intended to be given after the Sermon; . 
jHid therefore 1 should liave imagined that there was no 
design to have changed the places of the two rubrics 
here, but only to have added some other directions con- 
|;erning the proclaiming or publishing things in the 
Church : and that consequently the placing of thera in 

S9 ARtLishoj) Gfiada!, Art. VIII. 1576, for Ihe whole Troviuce. 



of tilt LorcVs Sapper, or Holy Communion, 291 

the order they now stand, might hnve been owing to Sect, 
the printer's, or some other mistake ; but that I observe ^^"* 
in the next rubric the Priest is ordered to return to the 
Lord's Tahlc^ which supposes that he has been in the 
Pulpit since he was at the Table before ; and therefore 
inclines me to believe that the rubrics were transposed 
with design ; and that the intent of the revisers was, that 
when there was nothing in the Sermon itself preparato- 
ry to the Communion, both this and the other rubric 
should be complied with, viz. by giving warning in this 
place, that there will be a Communion on such a day, 
and then reading the exhortation after Sermon is end- 
ed.* 

* " Mr Wheatlj supposes " says Shepherd, ** that the intent of the 
revisers was, that the rubric after the Creed, and the rubric before the 
exhortation should both be complied with." — " But where did he learn 
what he supposes to be ihe intent of the revisers'* Not from them- 
selves ; for their words indicate no such intent. Again, according to 
Wheatly's own plan, the two rubrics cannot always be complied with ; 
for if the sermon be preparatory to the Communion, then the exhor- 
tation i? not to be read ; and what becomes in this case of conformity 
to the latter rubric ? The truth is, that to endeavour to comply with 
both the rubrics is an idle attempt to conform to an Undoubted over- 
sight." In the American Prayer Book this inconsistency is removed by 
omitting in the latter rubric, the words, •' after the Sermon or Homily 
ended." The manner in which Shepherd accounts for the introduc- 
tion of this inconsistency is important, because it shows what was the 
intention of the revisers of the office. From 1532 till 1661 ihe first and 
third exhortations were blended to^eth^r, and were read to all the Coii' 
gregalion. Then the address, "Ye that do truly and earnestly re- 
pent, &c.^' was said *' to them that came to receive the Holy Com^ 
?nw?u'o7?," The Presbyterians at the Savoy Conference objected, that 
Ahe exhortations to all the Congregation should be read, not at the ve* i 
ry time of Communion, but some time before. " Is it not more sea- 
jsonable" said tney, " that in so great a business such warning go a 
considerable time before? 1^ there then leisure of self examination, and 
making restitution and satisfaction, and going to the Minister for coun- 
sel to quiet his conscience, S:c, in order to the present sacrament ? We 
yet desire that these things may be sooner told them." This objec- 
tion by the Presbyterian divines was so just and reasonable, that it led 
the Convocation to divide what was before hut one^ into two exhorta- 
tions ; the former to be used '' on some Sunday or Holy-day imraedi- 
ately preceding'''' ; the latter "«; the time oi the celebration of the 
Communion, " At this time the inconsistency referred to was inadver- 
tently introduced ; but is if not evident that both the exhortations were 
aim intended to be addressed to all the Congregation as they vrev- before 
they were dividtd ; and that the address, " Ye that do truly and earn- 
,estly repent, &c." was still, theonly one designed to be made to the Com- 
municanls in particular ? According to the present practice in most of 
our Churches, those who do not communicate, retire before the exhor- 
tation (at the time of the celebration) is read ; but it is humbly submit- 
ted to the consideration of those whose office it is to direct in these mat- 
ters, whether this is not a departure from the original intention of tbg- 



292 Of the Order for the Administraiion 

Chap. VI. ^. 4, At this time also Briefs, Citations, and Excomrnu- 
' nications are to be read. But nothing is to be proclaimed 
thin^sto be ^^ published in the church, during the time of divine ser^ 
pubfished, "vice, but by the Minister : nor by him any thing but what is 
and what prescribed in the rides of the Common Prayer Book, or en- 
°°** joined by the King, or by the Ordinary of the place. Ail 

this was undoubtedly added, to prevent the custom, that 
still too much prevails in some country churches, of pub- 
lishing the most frivolous, unbefitting, and even ridicu- 
lous things in the face of the congregation. 

Sect. IX. Of the Sermon. 

The anti- . S ERMONS have been appointed from the beginning 
2g^fj^^°/|t^of Christianity^^ to be used upon all Sundays and Holy- 
° 'days, but especially when the Lord's Supper was to be 
administered. For by a pious and practical discourse- 
suited to the holy Communion, the minds of the hearers 
are put into a devout frame, and made much fitter for the 
succeeding mysteries. 
Formerly ^, 2. This province indeed, in ancient times, was^ gene- 
byBish-^^ rally undertaken by the Bishops, who, at first volunta- 
ops. rily? and afterwards by injunction, preached every Sun- 

day, unless hindered by sickness®^ : but however, in the. 
absence of the Bishop, this duty was performed by 
Presbyters, and by his permission in his presenre®^ 
Why or- § 3. The reason of its being ordered here, is because 
dered here ^j^g f^j.^^ design of them was to explain some part of the 

Compilers of our liturs:y » ^"^ whether it does not lead to practical ill 
consequences. Every act of relicion, to be acceptable, must be volun- 
tary, on the part of rach individual and therefore none who wish to 
retire, should be compelled to stay, during" the celebration of the Sac- 
rament. But let them at least hear the exhortation, and let them not 
ie sent away by the officiating Minister. While it was considered as 
a punishment to be excluded from Communion, it might be very prop- 
er to tell all persons to depart who were not qtialified to Cooimune ; 
but now the circumstances of the church are grea*ly altered, and 
there is more reason to invite pious chris-tians to stay, than to command 
the wicked and thoughtless to depart. The Communion for the s?ck 
begins with the address '* Ye that do truly, &c." which corroborates 
the opinion here expres-ed, that th« exhortation '^ at the time of the cele- 
bration of the Commuaion'' should be read before any persons retire^ 

Am Ed. 

90 Const. Ap. lib. 8. cap. 5. Au- stant. Can. 19. torn. vi. Col. 1151. 
guslin. de Civ. Dei, L 22. c. 8. C- 

Concil. Vasense 1. Can. 9. torn. 91 Can. 19. Trull. Mognn. cgp. 
i{U col. 1459. A. Concil. 6. Con- 35. 

92 Possid. in Vit. August. 



of the Lord''s Supper^ or Holy Communion, 293 
foregoing Epistle and GospeP, in imitation of thatprac- ^^ ' 



tice of the Jews mentioned in Nehemiah viii. 8. For ~ 
which reason they were formerly called Postillis (quasi 
post ilia sc. Evangelia) because they followed the Gos- 
pel. 

§. 4. The Homilies, mentioned in the rubric, are two Of the Ho- 
books of plain Sermons, (for so the word signifies,) set "^^^'es. 
out by public authority, one whereof is to be read upon 
any Sunday or Holy-day, when there is no Sermon. 
The first volu'ue of them was set out in the beginning of 
King Edward Vl's reign, having been composed (as it 
is thought) by Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Ridley, and 
Latimer, at the beginning of the Relormaiion, when a • 
competent number of Ministers, of sufficient abilities to 
preach in a public congregation, was not to be found. 
The second volume w^as set out in Queen Elizabeth's time, 
by order of Convocation, A. D. 1563. And that this is 
not at all contrary to the practice of the ancient church, 
is evident from the testimony of Sixtus Sinensis, who, in 
the fourth book of his library, saith, ••' That our coun- 
" tryman Alcuinus collected and reduced into order, by 
'' the command of Charles the Great, the Homilies of the 
'' most famous doctors of the Church upon the Gospels, 
" which were read in churches all the year round." He 
says, they were all in number 209: but where that work 
lies hid, is not known. 

§. o, I designed in this place to have added a para- ^'^^'°g ^^ 
graph concerning the form of Bidding of Prayers, which enjoined 
the Church enjoins, by the fifty-fifth canon, to be used by the 
by every Minister before his Sermon, Lecture, or Homily : Church 
and from thence to have taken occasion to have hinted 
at the irregularity and ill consequences of the Petitionary 
Form, which is now the general practice. But finding 
it necessary to be more particular than I at first foresaw, 
if 1 proposed to give any tolerable satisfaction ; the de- 
sign immediately swelled into too large a compass to be 
inserted in a work of so general a nature. For this rea- 
son I have chosen to publish it in a little treatise by it- 
self: by which means too 1 hope it will be more known, 
than if it had only been treated of in a few pages here. 
For the sake of those who may be desirous "to look into 
the question, I have inserted the title at the bottom of 

y3 Vid. August. Sermones de Temp. 



294 Of the Order for the Administration 

Ghap. VI. the page'^, not without hopes that my sincere cndeav- 
" ~~~" ours may contribute a little to put a stop to the custom 
of praying in the Pulpit, which the reader will there see 
has once been attended with fatal consequences, and 
which has been discountenanced and prohibited almost 
in every reign, since the Reformation, by our governors 
and superiors both in Church and Slate. 

Sect. X. Of the Offertory^ or Sentences, and the Rubrics 
tliat follow* 

tu'^fni After the confession of our faith in the Nicene 
cessaV " Creed, or else afte»- the improvement of it in the Sermon 
duty, or Homily, follows the exercise of our charity, without 
which our Faiik would be dead^^. The first way of ex- 
pressing which, is by dedicating some part of what God 
has given us to his use and service, which is frequently 
and strictly commanded in the Gospel, hath the best ex- 
amples for it, and the largest rewards promised to it ; 
being instead of all the vast oblations and costly sacri- 
fices which the Jews did always join with their prayers, 
and the only chargeable duty to which Christians are 
obliged. It is, in a word, so necessary to recommend our 
prayers, that St. Paul prescribes^*, and the ancient 
church, in Justin Martyr's time, used to have collections 
every Sunday^^ 

However, when we receive the Sacrament, it is by no 
means to be omitted. When the Jews came before the 
Lord at the solemn feasts, they were not allowed to appear 
empty ; but every man was required to give as he was able, 
according to the blessing of the Lord^ which he had given 
him^^. And our Saviour, (with respect, no doubt, to the 
holy Table, as Mr. Mede excellently proves^) supposes 
that we should never come to the Altar without a gift^ 

94 Bidding- of Prayer before ley, M. A. Lecturer of Saint Mil- 
Sermon, no mark of disaffection dred's in the Poultry. Loudon, 
to the present Government: or, printed for A. Belt sworth, at the 
an historical vindication of the Red Lion, and M. Smith, at Bish- 
fifty-fifth canon She\ving that the op Beveridge's Head in Pater-uos- 
form of Bidding Prayers has been ter -Row. Price Is. 
prescribed and enjoined ever since 95 James ii. IT- 
the Reformation, and constantly 96 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. 
practised by the greatest divines 97 Just, Martyr. Apol. 1. c, 88. 
of our Church ; and that it has p, 132. 
been lately enforced both by his 98 Dent, xvi, 16. 17. 
present Majesty, and our Right 99 Mr. Mede of the Altar or he- 
Reverend Diocesan the Lord Bish- ly Table, sect. 2. page 390. 
op of Londop. By Charles Wheat- 1 Matt. v. 23, 24, 



of the Lord''s Supper, or Holy Communion* 295 

but always imitate his practice, whose custom of giving Sect. X. 

Alms at the Passover made his disciples mistake his * 

words to him that bare the bag^- And it is very proba- 
ble that at the time of receiving the Sacrament were all 
those large donations of houses, lands and money made^ 
For when those first converts were all united to Christ 
and one another in this feast of love, their very souls 
were mingled ; they cheerfully renounced their proper- 
ty, and easily distributed their goods among those to 
whom they had given their hearts before. None (of 
ability) were allowed to receive without giving some- 
thing^ ; and to reject any man's offering, was to deny 
him a share in the benefit of those comfortable mys- 
teries^. 

§. 2. Wherefore, to stir us up more effectually to imi- "T^.t^T^^ 
tate their pious example, as soon as the Sermon or Hom- tences. 
ily is ended, the Priest is directed to return to the Lord''s 
Table^ and begin the Offertory^ saying one or more of the 
Sentences following^ as he thinketh most convenient in his 
discretion, i. e. according to the length or shortness of the 
time that the people are offering, as it was worded in King 
Edward's first Common Prayer, and from thence in the 
Scotch one *. These are in the place of the Antiphona 
or Anthem w^hich we find in the old Liturgies after the 
Gospel, and, which, from their being sung whilst the peo- 
ple made their oblations at the Altar, were called Offer- 
tory^, The Sentences which our Church has here selec- ^^^^ ^^^' 
ted for that purpose are such as contain instructions, in- xq^y, 
junctions, and exhortations to this great duty ; setting 
before us the necessity of performing it, and the manner 



*In the Scotch Liturgy Matt. v. 16. Matt. vii. 12. Luke 
xix. 8. Galat. vi. 10. 1 Tim. vi 7. 1 John iii. 17. with all that 
follows in our book, are omitted : and Gen. iv. 3. to the 
middle of the 5th verse; Exod. xxv. 2. Deut. xvi. 16, 17. 1 
Chron. xxix. 10, 11, and part of the 12tb, 14th, and the 
17th verses; Psalm xcvi. 8. Matt. xii. 41, 42, 43, 44, are 
xidded. 



2 John xiii.29. Can. 93, 94. torn. ii. col. 1207. B. 

3 Acts ii. 44, 45, 46. 6 Vide Menard, in Greg- Sac- 

4 Cyprian, de Oper. et Elee- rament. p. 582. Paris 164^. Vide 
flios. p, 203, &c. et Mabillon de Liturgia Gallicana:. 

5Concil. Elib. Can. 28. torn. i. p. S.Paris 1685. 
•col. 973. E. Concil. Carthag, 4. 



296 



Of the Order for the Administration 



Alms and 
other De- 
votions, 
how distin 
guished. 



Chap. VL of doing it. Some of them (viz, those from the sixth to 
' the tenth inclusively, unless the ninth be excepted) re- 
spect the Clergy. And it was with an eye, 1 stippose, to 
this difference, that in the last review there was a dis- 
tinction made in the rubric that follows these Sentences, 
between the Alms for the Poor, and the other Devotions of 
the People. In the old Common Prayer there was only 
mention made of the latter of these, viz. the Devotion of 
the People, by which Alms for the poor were then meant, 
as appears from its being then ordered to he put into the 
poor man^s box. But then the Clergy were included in 
other words, which ordered, that upon the offering^days 
appointed, every man and woman should pay to the Curate 
the due and accustomed offerings. But of this I shall have 
occasion to say more, when 1 come to treat of the ru* 
brics at the end of this office. 1 shall only observe far- 
ther here, that the words Alms for the poor being added 
at the last review, by which undoubtedly must be un- 
derstood all that is given for their relief; it is plain, that 
by the other Devotions of the People is nowMntended some- 
thing distinct from the said Alms. And if so, then the 
offerings for the Clergy, or their share in the collections, 
must certainly be meant, as is plain from the design of 
the above-mentioned Sentences, which have a direct and 
immediate regard to them. It is well known that, in the 
primitive times, the Clergy had a liberal maintenance 
out of what the people offered upon these occasions^ 
Now indeed, whilst they have a stated and legal income, 
the money collected at these times is generally appropri- 
ated to the poor: not but that where the stated income 
of a parish is not sufficient to maintain the Clergy be- 
longing to the Church, they have still a right to claim 
their share in these offerings. 

II. Whilst these sentences are in reading, the Deacons, 
Church-zoardejis, or other fit persons, are to receive the Alms 
for the Poor, and other Devotions of tlie Peoplf The Dea- 
cons are the most proper persons for this business, it 
being the very office for which their order was institu- 
ted^ And for this reason the Scotch Liturgy does^ not 
allow the Church-wardens to do it, but at such^ times 
7vhen there are no Deacons present ^. It is now indeed 



By whom 
to be col- 
k.cted. 



* Whilst the Presbyter distinctly pronounces some or all of 



7 Cypr. Fp. 24. 36. 8 Rubric after the Sentence?. 9 Ads vi. 



of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion. 297 

grown a custom with us for the Church-wardens to per- Sect. X. 
form this office, dzz. to gather the Alms and Devotions ; 
of the congregation, which, by all the books before the ^jjj^t'^an« 
Scotch Liturgy, they were ordered, as J have obser- ner. 
ved, to put into the poor mail's box ; not, I presume, into 
that fixed in the church, but into a little box, which the 
Church-wardens or some other proper persons carried 
about with them in their bands, as is still the custom at 
the Temple church in London Now indeed they are 
ordered to make use of a decent bason to he provided by 
the parish for that purpose. With which, in mosi places, 
especially here in Town, they go to the several seats 
and pews of the congregation. Though in other places 
they collect at the entrance into the chancel, where the 
people make their offerings as they draw tow^ards the 
Altar. This last way seems the most conformable to 
the practice of the primitive Church, which in pursuance 
of a text delivered by our Saviour^°, ordered that the 
people should come up to the rails of the Altar, and 
there make their offerings to the Priest^^ 

And with an eye, I suppose, to this practice, the Dea- 
cons, or Church-wardens, or whosoever they be that 
collect the Alms and other devotions of the people, are 
ordered by the present rubric to bring it reverently to the 
Priest^ (as in their name,) who is humbly to present and 
place it upon the Holy Table^ ; in conformity to the prac- 
tice of the ancient Jews, who, when they brought their 
gifts and sacrifices to the Temple, offered them to God 
by the hands of the Priest. 

in. And if there be a communion^ the Priest is then also ^^^ Bread 
to pl^ceupon the Table so much Bread and Wine o^s he^^^^^ .^^^^ 
shall think sufficient. Which rubric being added to our by whom 
own Liturgy at the same time with the word Oblations, ^'> he pia- 

ced on the 

- _ . __ ^^j^j^^ 

these Sentences for ike Offertonj, the Deacon, or (if no such he 
present) one of the Church-wardens, shall receive the Devotions 
of the People there present in a bason provided for that purpose. 
Scotch Liturgy. 

* In the Scotch Liturgy, And when all have offered, he sliall 
reverently bring the Bason with the Oblations therein, arid de- 
liver it to the Presbyter, who shall humbly present it before the 
Lord, and set it upon the holy Table. 

10 Matt, V. 23. Orat. 20. torn. i. Theodoret. dt 

11 Greg. Naz. in Land. Basilii. Theodoslo. 

Nn 



298 Of the Order for the Administration 

Chap. VI. in the prayer following, (i. e. at the last review,) it ib 
"-—^"^ clearly evident, as Bishop Patrick has observed^^ that 
by that word are to be understood the elements of Bread 
and Wine, which the Priest is to oflfer solemnly to God, 
as an acknowledgment of his sovereignty over his crea- 
tures, and that from thenceforth they might become 
properly and peculiarly his. For in all the Jewish sac- 
rifices, of which the people were partakers, the viands 
or materials of the feast were first made God's by a sol- 
emn oblation, and then afterwards eaten by the commu- 
nicants, not as man's, but as God'? provision ; who, by 
thus entertaining them at his own Table, declared him- 
self reconciled and again in convenant with them. And 
therefore our blessed Saviour, when he instituted the new 
sacrifice of his own body and blood, first gave thanks and 
blessed the Elements, i. e. offered them up to God as Lord 
of the creatures, as the most ancient fathers expound 
that passage : who for that reason, whenever they cele- 
brated the holy Eucharist, always offered the Bread and 
Wine for the Communion to God, upon the iVltar, by 
this, or some such short ejaculation, Lord^ we offer thee 
thy own, out of what thou hast bountifully given us^^. Af- 
ter which they received them, as it were, from him again, 
in order to convert them into the sacred banquet of the 
Body and Blood of his dear Son^*. In the ancient 
Church, they had generally a Side-Table near the Al- 
tar, upon which the elements were laid till the first part 
of the Communion service w^as over, at which the Cate- 
chumens were allowed to be present ; but when they 
were gone, the elements were removed and placed upon 
the holy Altar itself, with a solemn prayer^^ Now 
though we have noSide-Table authorized by ourChurch ; 
yet in the first common prayer of King Edward VI. the 
Priest himself was ordered in this place to set both the 
"Bread and Wine upon the Altar"^ : but at the review in 

*The whole rubric in King Edward's first book was this; 
Then shall the Minister take so much Bread and Wine as shall 
suffice f 07 the persons appointed to receive the holy Communion, 
laying the Bread upon the Corporas, or else in the Paten, or 
in some other comely thing prepared for that purpose : and put- 
ting the Wine into the Chalice, or else in some fair and coU' 
venient Cup. prepared fr that use, {if the Chalice will not 
serve.) putting thereto a little pure and clean -water ; and set- 
ting both the Bread and Wine upon the Altar, <^c. 

12 Christian SMcrifice, p. 77. 14 See this proved in Mr.Mede^s 

13 See St. Chrysostom'c and Christian Sacrifice, c.8.p,3r2.&c. 
ether Liturgies, 15 Lit. Chr'ys. 



of the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion, 299 

i551, this and several other such ancient usages were Sect.X. 
thrown out, I suppose, at the instance of Buctr and ' '"' 

Martyr. After which the Scotch Liiurgy was the first 
wherein we find it restored : but there the Presbyter is 
directed to offer up and place the Bread and JVine prepar'ed 
for the Sacrament upon the Lord''s Table, thai it may be 
ready for that service. And Mr. Mede, having observed 
our own Liturgy to be defective in this particular*^, was 
probably the occasion, that, in the review of it after the 
Restoration, this primitive practice was restored, and the 
Bread and Wine ordered by the rubric to be set sol- 
emnly upon the Table by the Priest himself. From 
whence it appears, that the placing the elements upon 
the Lord's Table, before the beginning of morning praj^- 
cr, by the hands of a Clerk or Sexton, (as is now the 
general practice,) is a profane and shameful breach of 
the aforesaid rubric ; and consequently that it is the 
duty of every Minister to prevent it for the future, and 
reverently to place the Bread and Wine himself upon 
the Table, immediately after he has placed on the Alms. 

IV. In the rubric I have given, out of King Edward's M'^ing: 
first Liturgy, the Minister, when he put the Wine into tle^^^i^e, 
the Chalice, was directed by the rubric to put thereto a a primitive 
little pure and clean water. This was ordered in con- practice, 
formity to a very ancient and primitive practice, and jgnt^a^/^^ 
with an eye perhaps to our Saviour's institution. For the Sacra- 
the Wine among the Jews being very strong, it was gen- meat, 
erally their custom, as at their ordinary meals, so also 
at the Passover, to qualify it with water^^ : and there- 
fore since the Cup vvhich our Saviour blessed was prob- 
ably one of those which were prepared for that feast^^, 
some have concluded that, at the time of the institution, 
he made use of W^ine in which Water had been mixed. 
But of this they can produce no certainty of proof. For 
though it is allowed that the Jews often mingled their 
wine, yet it does not appear that they always did so, or 
thought it necessary. For Dr. Lightfoot observes, that 
he that drank pure wine performed his d.uty^^ j and Bux- 
torf adds farther, that it was indifferent whether it was 

16 Mr. Mede as above, p. S75, 18 Dr. Lightfoot*s Temple-Ser- 
37i. vice, vol. i. p. 966. and Bishop 

17 R. Ob. de Bartenora, et Ma- Hooper of Lent, part 2. chap. 3. 
imonides in Mishnam, de Bene- 19 Lightfoot ut supra, page 
diet. cap. 7. sect. 5. 691. & Hor. Heb. in Matt, xxvi, 

27. vol. ii. p. 160. 



300 Of the Order fo r the Adminislraiion 

Chap. VI. mixed or not, and that they drank it sometimes one way 
and sometimes theother^^: so that we must not affirm 
that our Saviours Cup was certainly mixed, before we 
are assured whether the wine which he had prepared 
for his last Passover was so. Our Saviour intimates, 
that what he had delivered to his Apostles was ihefmt 
of the vine^^ ; and Dr. Lightfoot observes^ from the Ba- 
bylonish Talmud, that this was a term which the Jews 
used in their blessings for wine mixed with water, to dis- 
tinguish it from pure wine, which they called the fruit 
of the tree^^' But now, not to insist upon the absurdi- 
ty of calling it the fruit of the viiie^ from its being mixed 
with water, which makes it less the fruit of the vine than 
it was in its purity ; it is plain that this expression, 
wherever we meet with it in other places of Scripture, is 
used to denote the pure product of the tree^. From 
whence we may be assured, that in the time of our Sa- 
viour, no such distinction as this had obtained : nor in- 
deed does the Mishna itself allow of it: for the determi- 
nation of the wise men is, that wine is to be called the 
fruit of the vine, as well before the mixture as after it^"*. 
And the reason why they give it a particular blessing, 
calling it the fruit of the vine, instead of the fruit of the tree, 
is not upon the account of its being mixed with water, 
but because the vine is more excellent than any tree be- 
sides^^ And if this distinction fail, I do not know that 
there is so much as a hint given in Scripture, from 
whence we may judge whether the wine used by our 
Saviour was mixed or not; which yet we might reason- 
ably expect to have found, if our Lord had designed the 
mixture as essential. Though were it ever so clear, 
that the Cup was mixed ; yet if it does not also appear 
that it was mixed with design, our Saviour's practice 
would no more oblige us to mix it now, than it would 
that we should consecrate unleavened bread. For it is 
certain that our Saviour, at the time of institution, used 
imleavcned bread^^: and yet since the reason of his 
doing so was, because there was no other at that time in 

20 De Prunae Coenas Ritlbuset Vorstium de Hebraismis N. T. c. 
Forma, sect. 20. as cited by Mr. 23. 

Drake in his Latin Sermon. 24 Tract, de Benedict, cap. 7. 

21 Matt. xxvi. 29. sect, 5. vid. et R. Ob. de Barte- 

22 Hor. Hfebr. ut supra. nora, ac Maimon. in locum. 

2S Isa. xxxii. 12. Hab. iii. 17. 25. Ibid, cap 6. vide et Suren- 

Zech. viii. 1^. secundum LXX* hus. et R. Ob. de Bart, in locum. 
Mark xii. 2. Luke xx. 10. Vide et 26 Exod. xii. 15,19. Matt.xxvi. 

17. Mark xri. 12. Luke xxii. 7. 



of the Lord'^s Supper, or Holy Communion. 301 

the house ; our Church thinks it sufficient, in her present Sect. X. 
rubric, to prescribe such bread as i> usual to be eaten. - 
Consequently since he made use of wine that was mixed, 
only because he found it ready prepared, or at most be- 
cause the strength of the wine used in that country re- 
quired it ; therefore our Church thinks it not necessary 
to mix it with us, because we ordinarily drink it pure. 
But J say this upon supposition that it could be clearly 
proved that the Cup which our Saviour used was mixed ; 
whereas I have shewn that there is no intimation in Scrip- 
ture about it. Nor do any of the first fathers assert or 
mention it. Origin (who is the fir^t that speaks either one 
way or the other) says, thac our Saviour administered 
in wine unm.ixed^^ which he would not sure have done, 
had there been any certain tradition, or so much as a 
general opinion to the contrary. We do not indeed 
deny, but that before his time, the mixture was the gen- 
eral practice of the Church^ : but then it is no where 
said, that this was done in conformity to our Saviour's 
institution ; but since the same wine perhaps, that was 
prepared for the Communion, served also for the Love- 
Feasts, (which, in the first ages of the Church, were al- 
ways held at the same time^"*,) water might be mixed 
with it, for what we k\iow, to prevent those disorders, 
which, even in the Apostles' time, were apt to arise from 
their drinking of it to excess^° ; or possibly it might be 
instituted as an emblem of the indissoluble union be- 
tween Christ and his Church, as Saint Cyprian explains 
it'^ ; or, lastly, (as is asserted by some other of the an- 
cients,) to be more expressive and significant of that 
Blood and Water which flowed from our Saviour's side, 
when he was pierced upon the cross^^. St. Cyprian 
indeed pleads strenuously for the mixture, and urges it 
from the practice and example of our Lord^^ : but then 
it is to be observed, that he is arguing against those who 
used Water alone, (for fear the heathens should discov- 
er them by the smell of the Wine,) and therefore might 

27 Horn. 12 in Hieremiam. 30 1 Cor. xi. 

28 Just. Mart. Apo]. 1. cap. 85. 31 Ad Caecil.Ep 63. p.l4R,&c. 
p. 125, 128. Iren. 1. 4. cap. 57.p. 32 Ambros. deSacr. 1.5.cap.l, 
357. et 1, 5. cap. 2 p. 397. Clem. Gennad. de Eccles. Dogm. c. 75. 
Alex. Paidag. 1 2. cap. 2, Theophylact. in Johan. xix. 34. 

29 1 Cor xi Jude 12. Ignat.ad Martin. Bracar. Collect. Canon. 
Smyrn. i, 8. p. 5. Clem. Alex, cap 55. 

Paedag. 1 2. cap. 1. Tertul Apol. 33 Cypri ut supra, 

cap, 39. Const, Ap. 1. 2. cap.28. 



302 



Of the Order for the Adminisiraiwu 



Chap. VI. insist upon the mixture as necessary, because otherwise 
the Wine was the part that was wanting ; which be plain- 
ly enough allows to be the only essential in the Cup, 
when he asserts that wine alone would be better than 
pure water^*. For if both of them were essential, nei- 
ther of them could be said to be better than the other. 
And for the same reason it is, that some other fathers 
and councils enjoin the mixture so strictly, viz, because 
the Encratites and others, who looked upon Wine and 
Flesh to be forbidden, would administer the Cup in the 
Sacrament of the Eucharist, with pure Water alone^^ 
Though it is true the Armenians, who administered in 
pure wine alone, are equally condemned by the council 
in Trullo^^ who produce the authority ot St. James's 
and St. Basil's Liturgies against them : to which may be 
added, the Liturgies under the name of St. Mark and St. 
Chrysostom, and that which is contained in the eighth 
book of the Constitution^^. And indeed it must be con- 
fessed, that the mixture has, in ail ages, been the general 
practice, and for that reason was enjoined, as has been 
noted above, to be continued in our own Church, by the 
first Reformers. And though in the next review the or- 
der for it was omitted, yet the practice of it was contin- 
ued in the King's Chapel Royal, all the time that Bishop 
Andrews was Dean of it^^ ; who also in the form that he 
drew up for the consecration of a church, &c. expressly 
directs and orders it to be used^^ How it came to be 
neglected in the review of our Liturgy in King Ed- 
ivard's reign, I have not yet been able to discover. I 
am apt to suspect that it was thrown out upon some ob^ 
jections of Calvin or Bucer, who were no friends to any 
practice for its being ancient and catholic, if it did not 
happen to suit with their fancy or humour. But what- 
ever may have been the cause of laying it aside, since 
there is no reason to believe it essential ; and since ev- 
ery Church has liberty to determine for herself in things 
not essential ; it must be an argument sure of a very in-f 
discreet and over hasty zeal, to urge the omission of it 
as a ground for separation. 



S4 Sacramentum rei illius ad- 
roonere et instruere nos debet, ut 
in «acrlficiis Dominicia Vinum Po- 
Tius oflferamus. Ibid. 

35 Epiphan. Haer. 46. torn, 1. 
p. 392. Aug. de Haeres cap. 64. 
Theodoret. de Fabulis Hsereticor. 
h I.e. 20. ton). 4. p. 208. 



36 Can. 32. torn. 6. col. 1156, 
1157. 

37 Cap. 12, 

58 See the primitive rule of Re- 
formation, according to the first 
Liturgy of King Edward VI. page 
20. printed in 4to. 1688. 

39 Sparrow's Collec. 395, 396. 



of the Lorcf's Supper^ or Holy Communion, 303 

Sect. XL 
Sect. XI. Of the Prayers for the whole State of Christ'^s 

Church* 

1 HE Alms, and Devotions, and Oblations of the peo- periy used 
pie being now presented to God, and placed before him here. 
upon the holy Table ; it is a proper time to proceed to 
the exercise of another branch of our charity, 1 mean 
that of Intercessibn. Our Alms perhaps are confined to 
a few mdigent neighbours ; but our prayers may extend 
to all mankind, by recommending them all to the mer- 
cies of God, who is able to supply and relieve them all. 
Nor can we at any time hope to intercede more effectu- 
ally for the whole Church of God, than just when we 
are about to represent and shew forth to the divine Ma- 
jesty that meritorious sacrifice, by virtue whereof our 
great High Priest did once redeem us, and for ever con- 
tinues to intercede for us in heaven. For which reason 
we find that the anciait and primitive Christians, when- 
ever they celebrated these holy mysteries, used a form 
of Intercession for the whole Catholic Church"". But 
there is this difference between our practice and theirs, 
that whereas we use it immediately after the placing the 
Elements upon the Table : it is in all the ancient Litur- 
gies, except in St. Mark's and the Ethiopian, deferred 
till after the consecration. 

§. 2. In the primitive Church too their prayers were Prayers for 
more extensive, and took in the Dead as well as the ^^^ ^^ad 
Living; not that they had any notion of the Romish ^^^^"^J^"^ 
Purgatory, or so much as imagined that those whom jic prac- 
they prayed for were racked or tormented with any tice. 
temporary pain. There were some of the ancients, it is 
true, who believed (and it seems to have been the cur- 
rent opinion from Origen downwards) that the trial we 
shall undergo at the last day will be a state of purgation; 
which they imagined to consist of a probational fire, 
through which all must pass,(even theProphets andApos- 
tles, and the Virgin Mary herself not excepted,) and 
which shall differently affect us, as we shall be different- 
ly prepared'*^: and upon this perhaps some of them might 

40 Chrys. Litiirg. et Horn. 52. 41 Origen. in Exod. xv. Horn. 

in Eustath. et Horn. 26. in Mat. 6 et m Psalna xxxvi. Hom.3. Lac- 

et Horn. 37. in Act. et de Sacer- tant. Institut. 1. 7. c. 21. p. 153. 

dot. 1. 6. c. 4. Cyril. Catech. Basil, in Isa. iv. 4. torn. i. p.932. 

Mystag. 5. n. 6. Const. Apost. J, Greg.Ny?s. de Mortuis. Orat.tom, 

8. c. 12, iii. p. 638. Greg. Naz. Orat. 39. 



304 Of the Order for the Admitilslralion 

Chap. VI. found the prayers thej used for the departed saints. 
Others again believed that Christ should reign a thousand 
years upon earth, before the final day of Judgment ; and 
also supposed that the saints should rise to enjoy and 
partake of this happy state, before the general resurrec- 
tion of the Dead^*: and therefore they prayed for the 
souls of the deceased, that they might not only rest in 
peace for the present, but also obtain part in the first 
Resurection''^ However they all agreed in this, that 
the interval between death and the end of the world, is a 
state of expectation and imperfect bliss, in which the 
souls of the righteous wait for the completion and per- 
fection of their happiness at the consummation of all 
things : and therefore, whilst they were praying for the 
Catholic Church, they thought it not improper to add a 
petition in behalf of that larger and better part of it 
which had gone before them, that they might all togeth- 
er attain a blessed and glorious j'esurrection, and be 
brought at last to a perfect fruition of happiness in hea- 
ven''^ By this means they testified their love and re- 
spect to the dead, declared their belief in the Commun- 
ion of Saints, and kept up in themselves a lively sense of 
the soul's immortality And with this intent a petition 
for the deceased was continued by our Reformers, in 
this very prayer of which we are now discoursing, in 
the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward VL — 
But this with a larger thanksgiving lor the examples of 



torn. i. p. 636. Ambros. Enarrat. adv. Marcion. 1. 3. c. 24. ^^acfanf. 

in Psalno. xsxvi. }. 26. tore, i.col. Institut. 1. 7. c 14, 15. 84. kc. 
789, 79 J. et in Psalm. cx\ iii.Serm. 43 Tertu!. de Monogam, c. 10. 

3. J. 14—17. torn. i. col. 997,998. Ambros. de Obiti' Valentin, ad 

et. Serm. 20. col. 1225, 1226. Ed. finem, et in Psalm, i. 
Benedict, Paris. 1686 Hieron. in 44 Tertul. ut supra, et de Co- 

Mai. iii. torn. iii. col, 18 J5. et 1. 1, ron Mil. c. 3, 4. et Exhortat. ad 

adv. Pelas(. torn. iv. col. 502. EH. Ce*titat. c. U. Vf^r. Ep. 1, et 

Benedict. Paris. 1704. Aujr. Res- 55. Eiiseb. in Vit. Constant. I. 4. 

pons, ad Qnaest. 1. Diilcit. ton .vi. c. 71. Arnob. adv. Gentes sub 

col. 121, 126, 128. et Enchirid de fine, 1. 4. Cyril. Catech. Mvstaj. 

Fide. Spe, et Charitate, cap. 67, 5. ■\rabros ut supra. Epiphan. 

6R, 69. intern, eod. col. 221,222. Haer. 75. Aeririn. n. 7 Chrysost, 

et de Civ. Dei, I. 2 >. c 25. ♦om. de S tcerdot. lib. 6. cap. 4. et in 

vii. col. 609. Edit. Benedict. Paris. Moral. Horn. 3. in Ep. ad Philip. 

1685. Consule etiam Estium iu et Horn. 41. in 1 Cor. Aug. de Cu- 

1 Cor. iii. 13. ra pro Mortiiis gerenda, c. 4. et 

42 St. Barnabas, c. 15. Jo«t. Coofess. 1. 9. c. 13. et Const. A- 

Mart. Trjpho. p. 306, &c. Irenae- post. I. 8. c. 41, 42, 43. 
us, I. 6. c. 30, 31, 32, &c. Tertul. 



of the LordPs Supper., or Holy Communion, 305 

the Saints*, than what we now use, was left out of the ^^^^- ^' 
second book, upon the exceptions of Bucer'** and Cal- """ 
vin'*'*, and the words militant here on earth,, were added 
to the exhortation^ Let us pray for the whole state of 
Christ''s Church, in order to limit the praj^er to the living 
only. The substance of the thanksgiving indeed was 
added again afterwards, first to the Scotch Liture-y, and 
then to our own at the last review ; though that in the 
Scotch Liturgyt keeps closest to the wot-ds in the first 



*In the Common Prayer of 1549, the words, all Christian 
Kings, Princes, and Governors, were not inserted, nor the 
words, and especially to this Congregation here pref^ent. But 
after the Petition for those that are in trouble, sorrow, need, 
sickness, or any ather adversity, the prayer went on thus: 
And especially we commend unto thy metciful goodness^ the 
Congregation which is here a'^sembled in thy name, to celebrate 
the commemoration of the most glorious death of thy Son. And 
here we do give unto thee most high praise and hearty thanks, 
for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all thy Saints, 
from the beginning of the world, and chiefly in the glorious and 
most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord and God, and in the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostks, 
and Martyrs, whose examples (O Lord) and stedfastness in thy 
faith, and keeping thy hoty Commandments, grant us to follow. 
We commend unto thy mercy, O Lord^ all other thy servants 
'which are departed hence from us, with the sign of faith, and 
now do rest in the sleep of peace : Grant unt& them, we beseech 
thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace, and that at the day of 
the general Resurrection, we and all they which be of the mys- 
tical body of thy Son, may altogether be set on his right hand, 
and hear that his most joyful voice. Come unto me, O ye that be 
bussed of my Father, and possess the kingdom which is prepar- 
ed for you from the beginning of the worlds Grant this, O Fa' 
ther, for Jesus Chrisfs $ake, our only Mediator and Advocate, 

t And to all thy peoph give thy heavenly grace, that with ^, , 
meek heart and due reverenc£, they may hear and receive thy ^j^^^.^ jg j^^ 
holy word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all Commnn- 
the days of their life [And we commend especially unto thy iovt these 
merciful goodness the congregation which is here assembled in words thus 
thy name, to celebrate the commemoration of the most precious ^^^^^^^^ U 
death of thy Son, and our Saviour Jesus Christ ~\ Then the , J^^ ^^^^ 
petition for all in adversity : after which as ibllows : And we 

45 Script. Anglican, p. 467, 46 Epistola ad Bucerum, as 

468. cited in A Co8^1 from the A-itar, 

page 38, 

Oo 



306 Of the Order for the Adminislralion 

.^^^P- ^ ^- book of King Edward. And though the direct petitiort 
' for the faithful departed is still discontinued, jet, were it 
not for the restriction of the words, militant here on earthy 
they might be supposed to be implied in our present 
form, when we beg of God that we with them mayhepav' 
takers of his heavenly kingdom. 

Sect. XII. Of the Exhortations on the Siinday or Holy' 
day before the Communion. 

ration ne-^' GREAT mysteries ought to be ushered in with the so- 
cessary to lemnities of a great preparation : God gave the Israelites 
the receiv- three days warning of his design to publish the Law% 
craiient!^" ^"^ ordered their festivals to be proclaimed by the sound 
of a trumpet some time before'^s. The Paschal Lamb 
(the type of Christ in this Sacrament) was to be chosen 
and kept by them four days, to put them in mind of pre- 
paring for the celebration of the Passovcr^^ : and Chris- 
tians, having more and higher duties to do in order to 
this holy feast, ought not to have less time or shorter 
warning. Wherefore, as good Hezekiah published, by 
particular expresses, his intended Passover long before*'^; 
%o hath our Church prudently ordered timely notice to 
be given, that none might pretend to stay away out of ig- 
norance of the time, or unfitness for the duty, but that 
all might come, and with due preparation. 
Why (here §. 2. The ancient Church indeed had no such exhor- 
were no tations : for their daily, or at least weekly Communions, 
tions^'^nThe ^lade it known that there was then no solemn assembly 



primitive 
Church. 



also bless thy holy name for all those thy servants^ who having 
finished their course in faith do now rest from their labours. 
And we yield unto thee most high praise and hearty thanks for 
the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all thy servants, who 
have been the choice vessels of thy grace, and the lights of the 
world in their several generations : most humbly beseeching thee^ 
that we may have grace to follow the example of their stedfast- 
ness in thy faiths and obedience to ihy holy Commandments^ 
that at the day of the general Resurrection^ we, and all they 
which are of the mystical body of thy Son, may be set on his 
right handn and hear that his most joyful voice, Come ye blessed 
of my Feather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus 
Christ^s sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen. 

47 Exod. xijc. 15. 49 Exod. xii. 3, 6. 

48 Lev. XXV. 9. Numb. x.2. SO 2; Chron. xxx. 



cfthe Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion. SOT 

pf Christians \vitliout it ; and every one (not under cen- Sect. XIL 
-.sure) was expected to communicate. But now, when the — -^ 
time is somewhat uncertain, and our long omissions have 
made some of us ignorant, and others forgetful of this 
duty ; most of us unwilling, and all of us more or less 
indisposed for it ; it was thought both prudent and nec- 
essary, to provide these exhortations, to be read when the 
Minister gives warning of the Communion, which he is aU 
ways to do, upon the Sunday or some Holy-day immediately 
preceding. 
' 6. 3. As to the composures themselves, they are so ex- J*?® "^^' 

* 1 '. 1 I II T -4. 11 fulness of 

traordmary suitable, that if every communicant vvould tij^gg com- 

duly weigh and consider them, they would be no small posures. 
help towards a due preparation. The first contains pro- 
per exhortations and instructions how to prepare our- 
'selves : the latter is more urgent, and applicable to those 
nvho generally turn their backs upon those holy myste- 
ries, and shows the danger of those vain and frivolous 
excuses which men frequently make for their staying a- 
way. For which reason it is appointed by the rubric 
to be used instead of the former, whenever the Minister 
shall observe that the people are negligent to come,^ 



*In the Common Prayer of 1549, only the first of these ex- 
hortations was inserted,and that pretty different from our pres- 
ent one in words, though much the same in sense : it was a lit- 
tle enlarged towards the conclusion in relation to auricular and 
secret Confession, which I shall have another occasion to 
take notice of hereafter^i. And in that book it was design- 
ed, as now, to be read on some day before the Communion 
to which the people were to be exhorted. The second ex- 
hortation was not added till 1552. And then it was appoint- 
ed to be used at the Communion time (immediately after 
the prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church) at cer* 
tain times when the Curate should see the people negligent to 
come to the holy Communion. And therefore it began, We be 
come together at this time {dearly beloved brethren) to feed at 
the Lord's Supper ; iinto the which, in Godh behalf, I bid you 
all that are here present, and so on as in the present form, till 
jafter the words — how severe punishment hangeth over your 
heads jor the same — it went on thus, to reprove a custom, 
which it seems then prevailed, of some people's standing 
gazing in the church (whilst others communicated) without 
receiving. And whereas ye offend God so sore in refusing this 
holy banquet, I admonish, exhort and beseech you, that unto this 

51 Chap. XI. Sect. IV, V. 



308 Of the Order for the Administration 

Chap. VI. ^. 4. How the rubric that orders these exhortations 

7" to be read after the Sermon or Homily is ended, may be 

^K^ *-l'^#« reconciled to the rubric that orders the Minister to mvt 

rubric is to . n i r-i • i /• o t i i > 

be recon- fiotice oj the Lommumon before Sermon, 1 have aireaay 
fciied with showed upoH that place. 

that ftfter r r 

Creed. Sect. XUI. Of the Exhortation at the Communion. 

Thedesi n ^ ^^ former exhortations are designed to increase the 

of it. numbers of the Communicants, and this to rectify their 

dispositions ; that so they may be not only many but 



unkindnesi ye will not add amj more. Which thing ye shall do, 
if ye stand by as gazers and lookers on them that communicate^ 
and be not partakers of the same yourselves. For what thing 
can this be accounted else, than a farther contempt and unkind' 
ness unto God ? Truly it is a greiit unthankfullness to say, Aay^ 
when ye be called ; but the fault is much greater when men stand 
htf, and yet will neither eat nor drink the holy Communion with 
others. I pray you, what can this be else, but even to have the 
mysteries of Christ in derision ? h is said unto all. Take ye 
and eat ; take and drink ye all of this, do this in remembrance 
of me. With what face then, or with what countenance shall ye 
hear these words ? What will this be else but a neglecting, a 
despising and mocking cf the Testament of Christ ? Wherefore. 
7Uther than ye should do so, depart ye hence*, and give place to 
them that be godly disposed. But when you depart, I beseech 
you, ponder with yourselves from whence ye depart. Ye de- 
part from the Lord'^s Table, ye depart from your brethren, and^ 
from the banquet of most heavenly food^ These things if ye 
earnestly consider, ye shall by God^s grace return to a better 
mind ; for the ohtaiiiing whereof we shall make our humble pe- 
titions while we shall receive the holy Communio7i. And thus 
stood this form till the Restoration of King Charles II. dur- 
ing all which time that which is in our present book the 
first exhortation, stood the second in the old books, as being 
sometimes also to be said at the discretion of the Curate. But 
in 1662, they were both somewhat altered and transposed, 
and adapted to be used upon a Sunday or Holy-day before 
the communion, which occasioned the first sentence to that 
which is at present our first exhortation to be then added. 
Though indeed they are now all of them so altered in the 
expression, and transposed in their order, that the more cu- 
rious reader, that thinks the difference worth examining, 
must look into the originals ; there being no way of giving 
him an exact account of them here ,but by transcribing them 
at length, which will take up more room than I know how 
to allow. 

* See Note, page 292. 



oftfie Lord^s Supper^ or Holy Communion. 309 

good. In the ancient Greek Church, besides all other Sect. XIII. 

preparatory matters, when the congregation were all 

placed in order to receive the Sacrament; the Priest, 
even then standing on the steps to be seen of all, stretch- 
ed out his hand, and lifted up his voice in the midst of 
that profound silence, inviting the worthy, and warning 
the unworthy to forbear^^*. Which if it were necessary'' 
in those blessed days, how much more requisite is it in 
our looser age, wherein men have learned to trample 
upon Church discipline, and to come out of fashion at 
set-times, whether they be prepared or not ? Every one 
hopes to pass in the crowd ; but knowing the terror of the 
Lord, though the people have been exhorted before, and 
though they are now come with a purpose of communi- 
cating, and are even conDe«ze777/^jD/acec/ /or the receiving 
of the holy Sacrament, yet the Priest again exhorts them 
in the words of St. Paul, diligently to try and examine 
themselves before they presume to eat of that bread^and drink 
of that cup, ^'c.'\ 

* Agreeably to which the clause in the first of our present 
exhortations. Therefore if any of you be a blasphomer of God, 
&c, to the words, Body and Soul^ was in all the former books 
inserted in this exhortation, between the words, sundry kinds 
of death, and — judge therefore yourselves, ^-c. And in the 
tirst English Communion office published in the year 1547, 
the same clause was still more aptly appointed to be >aid 
after this exhortation, to them -which were ready to take the 
Sacrament, Jfter which the Priest was to pause a while to 
see if any man woutd withdraw himself: (and if he perceived 
any so to do^ he was then to commune with him privately at 
convenient leisure, and see whether he could with good exhorta- 
tion bring him to grtLce.) After a little pause the Priest was to 
say. Ye that do truly, 4*c. ^^ 

t In all the books between the first of King Edward and 
our present one, this exhortation was to be added to one of 
the others, which, as I have showed in the preceding note, 
were, during all that time, appointed to be used upon the 
day of Communion. But in King Edward's first book the 
rubric ord red this immediately to follow the Sermon or 
Homily, i. e. if the people were not exhorted in the said Ser- 
mon or Homily itself io the worthy receiving of the holy Sacra- 
ment : and that too only where Communions were not fre- 
quent: f..r by the rubric that immediately follows the exhor- 
tation in the same book, it is allowed, thatm cathedral chur- 

52 Chrysost. Horn. 27. in ix.ad 53 Sparrow's Collection, page 
Hsbr. torn. iv. p. 524. 529. 22. 



3 1 © Of the Order for the Adminis tration 

^!!!L_L!l ^' ^' "^^^ ordering that the Communicants shall be coiit 
The Com- "^^^^^^^^^^2/ P^^^^^ fi^ ^he receiving of the holy Sacrament, be- 
munica°nts ^°^'^ ^^^ Minister reads the exhortation, seems to have 
when and an eje to an old custom, still retained in some country 
how to be churches, where the Communicants kneel down in rows 
ently^pla- ^^^^ behind another, and there continue till the Minister 
ced. comes to them. In the first Common Prayer of King 

Edward, it is thus ordered, just after the Offertory or 
Sentences j Then so many as shall be partakers of the ho- 
ly Communion shall tarry still in the choir, the men on the 
one side, and the women on the other side : where it may 
be remarked, that the separating the men from the wo- 
, men, and allotting to each sex a distinct place, was what 
was very strictly observed in the primitive Church^*. 

Sect. XIV. Of the Invitation. 

The design ^HE feast being now ready, and the guests prepared 
with due instruction, the Priest (who is the Steward of 
those mysteries) invites them to draw near ; thereby 
putting them in mind, that they are now invited into 
Christ's more special presence, to sit down with him at 
his own table : (and therefore I think it would be more 
proper if all the Communicants were, at these words, to 
come from the more remote parts of the church as near 
to the Lord's Table as they could.) But then he advi- 
seth them, in the words of the primitive Liturgies", (i, e, 
according to our present book,) to draw near with faith, 
without which all their bodily approaches will avail 
them nothing, it being only by faith that they can really 
draw near to Christ, and take this holy Sacrament to their 
comfort. But seeing they cannot exercise their faith as 
they ought, until they have heartily confessed and re- 
pented of their sins ; therefore he farther calls upon 
them to make their humble Confession to Almighty God^ 
fnetkly kneeling upon their knees*. 

ches or other places where there is daily Communion, it shall he 
sufficient to read this exhortation above written once in a month : 
and that in parish churches, upon the week-days, it may be left 
unsaid. 

* In Kin^; Edward's first book, it was — to Jilmighty God, 
and to his holy church here gathered together in his name, meek- 
ly kneeling, 4"C. In all the other old ones — to Almighty Sod, 
before the congregation here gathered together in his holy name^ 
&c. 

55 M«Tflt^ piCa KdLi Trig-tas -Treoo-ix^iri. 
54 Const. Apoit. 1, 2. c, 57. Liturg. S. Chrjs. et S. Jacob. " 



isf the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion. 311 

Sect. XV1, 
Sect. XV. Of the Confession, ~ 

Besides the private Confession of the closet, and The suita» 
that made to the Priest in case of ^reat doubt, there was bleness of 

^1 1 r r ' J • it in this 

anciently a general prayer for forgivness and mercy m pi^ce. 
the public service of the Church, used by all the Com- 
municants when they were come to the alta^^^ And 
since Christ's sufferings are here commemorated, it is 
very reasonable we should confess our sins which were 
the cause of them : and since we hope to have our par- 
don sealed, we ought first with shame and sorrow to 
own our transgressions, for his honour who so freely 
forgives them : which the congregation here does in 
words so apposite and pathetical, that if their repentance 
be answerable to the form, it is impossible it should ever 
be more hearty and sincere*. 

Sect. XVI. Of the Absolution, 

When the discipline of the ancient Church was in Theneces- 
force, no notorious offender could escape the censures for^°he Sa" 
that his sin deserved : nor was he admitted to the Sac- crament. 
rament without a public and solemn absolution upon his 
repentance. But this godly discipline being now every 
where laid aside, (to the great detriment of the Church,) 
it is so much the more necessary to supply it by a gen- 
eral Confession and Absolution ; of which see more up- 
on the morning and evening service. 

§. 2. As to this particular form, it shall suffice to note, ^^^^^^^^ 
that it is in imitation of that ancient form of blessing re- place. 
corded, Numb. vi. 24, &c. And since it is certain that 
there is such a power vested in the Ministers of the Gos- 
pel, as to support the spirit of a dejected penitent, by 
assuring him of a pardon in the name of God ; there can 

* In all the Common Prayer Books iSAts general Confession 
•was to be made in the name of all those that were minded to 
receive the holy Communion^ either by one of them ^ or by one of 
the Ministers^ or by the Priest himself: but by the Scotch Lit- 
urgy it was confided to the Presbyter himself or the Deacon^ 
and from thence by our own (upon the exception of the 
Presbyterians at the last review) to one of the Ministers^ both 
he and all the People humbly kneeling upon their knees, 

5« Chrys. Horn. 18, in 2 Cor. viii. torn, iii, p. 647. Hn. 12, &c. 



•312 Of the Order for the AdministraLion 

^Pjn. be no fitter opportunity to exercise it than now, vizi 
when so many humbled sinners are kneeling before him, 
and begging forgiveness at his hands : which therefore 
thus coming accordingly from a person commissionated 
by Christ for this end, ought to be received with faith 
and gratitude, since it is the only way to quiet people's 
consciences, now revelations are ceased. 

Sect. XVII. Of the Stniences of Scripture. 

The ad- JT is SO necessary for every one that would receive 
thrmln^^ comfort and benefit by this blessed Sacrament, to have 
this place. 2t lively faith, and a mind freed from unreasonable fears ; 
that the Church, lest any should doubt of the validity 
of the foregoing Absolution, hath subjoined these Sen- 
tences; which are the very promises on which it is 
grounded, and so overflowing with sweet and powerful 
comforts, that if duly considered they will satisfy the 
most fearful souls, heal the most broken hearts, and ut- 
terly banish the blackest clouds of sorrow and despair. 

Sect. XVIII. Of the Lauds and Anthenu 

■ffae anti- AfTER we have exercised our Charity, Repentence, 
quity of and Faith, the next part of the office is Thanksgiving, 
them. which is so considerable a part of our present duty, that 
it hath given name to the whole, and caused it to be cal- 
led the Eucharist or Sacrifice of Praise, And here we 
begin with the Lauds and Anthem, which, together with 
most of the remaining part of the office, are purely prim- 
itive, near as old as Christianity itself, being to be lound 
almost verbatim amongst the ancient writers*^ Having 
therefore exercised our faith upon the foregoing senten- 
ces, and so got above this world, we are now ready to 
go into the other, and to join with the glorified saints 
and angels, in praising and adoring that God who hath 
done so great things for us. In order to this, the Minis- 
Pr. Lift ^gj. ^g^ijg upon us to Lift up our hearts^ viz. by a most 
"hJxis!^ quick and lively faith in the most high God, the supreme 
governor of the whole world, which being ready to do, 
Answ. We we immediately answer. We Ift them up unto the Lord ; 
lift them and so casting off* all thoughts of the world, turn our 
"P'^'^- minds to God alone. 

57 Const. Apost. 1. 8. 12. LUurs. S. Jacob. S. Chrysost. S. Basils 
Cyril. Cateoh. Mystag. 5. 



if the Lord^s Stipper^ or Holy Commumou. 313 

§. 2. And Our hearts being now all elevated together, Sec.XVIII. 
and in a right posture to celebrate the praises of God, — ■— — 
the Minister invites us all to join with him in doing it, 
saying, Let us give thanks unto our Lord God : which the 
people having consented to and approved of, by saying, 
It is meet and right so to do ; he turns himself to the . 

Lord's Table, and acknowledgeth to the divine Majesty yj'jj^g^ 
there specially present, that // is veryfneet, right, and our Slc 
bounden duty, that we should at all times^ and in all places^ 
give thanks, <^c, 

§. 3. But this, in the primitive Church, was only the A largre 
introduction to the Eu^a^tarrU, properly so called, which Thanks-^ 
w^as a great and long Thanksgiving to God for all his wlys^use'd 
mercies of Creation, Providence, and Redemption, from in the 
whence the whole service took the name of Eucharist or p,V™'*7® 
Thanksgiving, For in all the ancient Liturgies, as soon ^^^ ' 
as ever the aforesaid words were pronounced, there was 
immediately subjoined a commemoration of all that God 
had done for man from the foundation of the world, and 
more particularly in the great and wonderful mystery of 
our Redemption. And in some part or other of this so- 
lemn glorification, was always included the Trisagion or 
seraphical hymn that follows next in our own Liturgy ; 
which was sung, as with us, by the Minister and whole 
congregation jointly*, after which the Minister again 
went on alone to finish the Thanksgiving. We have no 
where else indeed so long a Thanksgiving as that in the 
Constitutions*^ ; but the length of this is no argument 
against its antiquity. For Justin Martyr, when he de- 
scribes the Christian rites and mysteries, says, that " as 
" soon as the common prayers were ended, and they 
•' had saluted one another with a kiss, Bread and Wine 
'' was brought to him who presided over the brethren, 
" who receiving them, gave praise and glory to the Fa- 
** ther of all things, through the name of the Son and of 
*' the Holy Ghost, and made Eb^cepa-uxv Itf) ;raAtf, a very 
*' long Thanksgiving, for the blessings which he bestow- 



* This is only to be understood of the latter part of it, 
where it begins with Holy, holy, holy, &c. where the chorus 
came in ; the former part of it being only pronounced by the. 
JMinister himself; and so it was used in our own Church 
during the time of King Edward's first Liturgy. 

5S U 8. c. 12, 

Pp 



^14 Oflhe Order for ike Adminisiration 

iijiap. VI. « ed upon them^^" Afterwards indeed, as devotion gre^r 

• "• cold, this long doxology was contracted ; but still so 

that the two greatest blessings of God, u e, the Creation 
and Redemption by Christ, together with the words of 
institution, were always set forth, and thanks given to 
God for these things. And this is supposed to have 
been according to our Saviour''sown example. For the 
Jews at the Passover constantly commemorated their 
Redemption from Egypt, their settlement in the good 
land which they then possessed, and all the other bless- 
ings which God had bestowed upon them®o : and there- 
fore it is not to be doubted but that as aur Saviour 
imitated the ceremonies of the Jews in so many other 
particulars of this holy Sacrament; so also, when he 
gave ihanks^^, he used a form to the same purpose; only 
adding a Thanksgiving for the Redemption of the world 
by his sufferings and death, which was probably what 
he ordered his Apostles to perform, when he comman- 
ded them to do this in remembrance of liim, and to shezLf 
forth his death till he come^K And accordingly we find, 
that all the ancient Liturgies have an eucharistical 
prayer, agreeable in all points to that described by Jus- 
tin Martyr, (excepting in its length, to which that in the 
Constitutions only comes up,) setting forth the mercies 
of God in our Creation and Redemption, and particularly 
in the Death and Resurrection of his Son. The Roman 
Missal, 1 believe, was the first that omitted it ; and the 
omission of it there might perhaps be the occasion of its 
not being taken notice of when our own Liturgy was 
compiled. For the more solemn festivals indeed there 
are some short prefaces provided to commemorate the 
particular mercies of each season : but upon ordinary 
occasions (as our Liturgy stands now) we have no other 
Thanksgiving than what these Lauds contain. 



Therefore 



Sect. XIX. Of the Trisagium. 

The Minister now looking upon himself and the rest 
with' An- of the congregation as Communicants with the church 
gels and triumphant; and all of us apprehending ourselves, by 
Arch-Au- faiih, as in the midst of that blessed society ; we join 
^^^* with them in singing forth the praises of the most high 

God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, saying. Therefore 

59 Ju't. Mart. Apol. 1. c. 86. 61 Malt. xxvi.26.Markxiv.23. 

y. 125, 126. Vide et C>ril. Ca- Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 24. 

feci). Mys^lasr. 5. n. 5. 62 Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor, xi. 23^ 

•60 Vide l-'asium in Deut, viir. 



€ftke Lordi's Supper ^ or Holy Communion* 315 

'^vith Angels, and Arch-Angels, and with all the company p/ ^ect. XX : 
heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore — — r 
praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy^ holy. Lord God of 
Hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory, [Hosanna in, 
the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord^^ Glory be to thee, Lord most high. 

§. 2. That the iVngels were present at the performance ,houghtfo 
of divine mysteries, hath been the opinion of both be present 
Heathens and Christians'^ ; and that they are especially at theper- 
present at the Lord's Supper, is generally received^\ ^r'Ji'v"^^ 
For since Jesus by his death hath united heaven and mysteries', 
earth, it is fit that, in this commemoration of his passion, 
we should begin to unite our voices with the heavenly 
choir, with whom we hope to praise him to all eternity. 
For which end the Christians of the very first ages took 
this Hymn into their office for the Sacrament^, being of 
divine originaP, and from the word \Holy'\ thrice repeat- 
ed in it, called by the Greeks [T^io-elytov] the Trisagium, 
«r Thrice Holy, 

Sfxt. XX. Of the proper Prejaces, 

On the greater festivals there are proper Prefaces ap- Why to be 
pointed, which are also to be repeated, in case there be gf'^hf j^jfyj^ 
a Communion, for seven days after the festivals them- together, 
selves! ; (excepting that for Whitsunday, which is to be 
repeated only six days after, because Trinity-Sunday, 
which is the seventh, hath a preface peculiar to itself) 
to the end that the mercies may be the better remem- 
bered by often repetition, and also that all the people 
(who in most places cannot communicate all in one day) 
may have other opportunities, within those eight days, 
to join in praising God for such great blessings|. 



* The words thus enclosed [ ] were only in the first book 
ef King Edward. 

t In King Edward's first book they were only appointed 
for the days themselves. 

I " Good Friday has no proper preface, aod I presume for this rea- 
son : The whole office is a comnaemoration of the sacrifice of the death 
•f Christ, and of the benefits we receive thereby." — Shep. Am. Ed. 

63 A*/,«ovat? 'E?r:ff^x,i'7ryjc ^iioov 64 Chrys. in Ephes. i. Horn. 3 

I«gfflv, jtsti _Mt;3-T/ig/av 'Ogv.'sto-a?, es- tom. iii. p. 778. lin. 30, 31. 
se dicit Plutarch, lib. de Orac. An- 65 See the note in page 313f 

£jelo Orationis adhuc adstante. 66 Isa. y'u -2, 

Tertul. de Orat. c. 12. p. 134. B. 



Sis Of the Order for the Adminislratim 

Chapel. §. 2. The reason of the Church's lengthening out these 
Christian ^'^^ ^^asts for several days, is plain : the subject-matter 
festTvair ^^^^^'^ is of so high a nature, and so nearly concerns, 
why our salvation, that one day would be too little to medi- 

lengthened tate upon them, and praise God for them as we ought. 
eraYdajsr A^?^%^^^^^<^^2i"c^ may justly require o/ieday of thanks- 
giving and joy : but the deliverance of the soul by the 
blessings commemorated on those times, deserves a much 
longer time of praise and acknowledgment. Since there- 
fore it would be injurious to Christians to have their joy 
and thankfulness for such mercies confined to one day ; 
the Church, upon the times when these unspeakable 
blessings were wrought for us, invites us, by her most 
seasonable commands and counsels, to fill our hearts 
with joy and thankfulness, and let them overflow eight 
days together, 
^ef ht^^^ ^* ^* '^^^ reason of their being fixed to eight days, is 
daysf taken from the practice of the Jews, who by God's ap- 
pointment observed their greater festivals, some of them 
for seven, and one, viz, the feast of Tabernacles, for eight 
days^^ And therefore the primitive Church, thinking 
that the observation of Christian festivals (of which the 
Jewish feasts vvere only types ar^d shadows) ought not 
to come short of them, lengthened out their higher feasts 
to eight days. 

Though others give a quite difl^erent and mystical rea- 
son, viz, that as the oCtave or eighth day signifies Eter- 
nity, (our whole lives being but the repetition or revo- 
lution of seven days ;) so the Church, by commanding 
us to observe these great feasts for eight day, (upon 
the last of which especially, great part of the solemnity 
is repeated which was used upon the first,) seems to hint 
to us, that if we continue the seven days of this mortal 
life in a due and constant service and worship of God ; 
we shall, upon ttie eighth day of eternity, return to the 
first happy state we were created in. 
The design ^, 4. But whatever the rise of this custom was, we are 
of the pr|f r^ggurcd that the whole eight days were very solemnly 
observed : on which they had always some proper Pre- 
face relating to the peculiar mercy of the feast th'ey cel- 
ebrated : to the end that all, who received at any of 
those times, should, besides the general praises offered 
up for all God's mercies, make a special memorial pro- 
per to the festival. 
' ' 67 Leviticus xxiii. 36. 



of the Lord's Supper^ or Holy Conununion. SIT* 

§. 5. In the Roman Church ihry had ten of thena*'^ ^ect. XXL 
i^ut our Reformers have only retained five of the most 
ancient ; all which (except that for Trinity-Sunday, re- ,v^^/^'^' 
tained by reason of the great mystery it celebrates) are them, 
concerning the principal acts of our Redemption, viz,' 
the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Sav- 
Jour, and of his sending the Holy Ghost to comfort us. 

Sect. XXT. Qf the Address, 

1 HE nearer we approach to these holy mysteries, the The pro- 
greater reverence we qught to express: for since it is P"«^tJofit 
out of God's mere grace and goodness, that we have the "J \ '® 

1 1 1 • rr* t I • • 1 1 place. 

honour to approach his 1 able ; it is at least our duty 
to acknowledge it to be a free and undeserved favour, 
agreeing rather to the mercy of the giver, than to the 
deserts of the receivers. And therefore, least our exul- 
tations should savour of too much confidence, w^e now 
allay them with this act of humility, which the Priest 
offers up in the name of all them that receive the Commun- 
ion ; therein excusing his own and the people's unwor- 
thiness, in words taken from the most ancient Liturgies. 

§. 2. In the Scotch Common Prayer this Address is '^.^^ ^^^^^ 
ordered to be said just before the Minister receives ; bunion of" 
and in the same place it stands in the first Liturgy of ficeinthe 
King Edward. Though the whole Communion office Scotch Lt- 
in King Edward's first book is so very different, as to ^^^^* 
the order of it, from what it is now, that there can be no 
showing how it stood then, but by a particular detail, 
which I shall therefore give in the margin*. The 

* The beginning of the Communion office in King Ed- 
ward's first book, as far as to the Collect for the King, I 
have already given in page 281. After which it proceeds 
in this order. The Epistle ; the Gospel; the Nicene Creed ; 
then the Exhortation to be used at the time of the Commun- 
ion : and after that stands the Exhortation to be used on 
some day before : then the Sentences ; the Lauds, Anthem, 
and Prefaces ; the Prayer for the whole state of Christ'^s 
Churchy with the Prayer of Consecration ; the Prayerof Ob- 

68 Viz. For Low-Sunday, for Vir!?in. Johnson's Ecclesiastical 

Ascension-day, for Pentecost, for Laws, A. D. 1175. 14. Thoug-h I 

Christmas-day, for the Apparition do not know whatshoiddb meant 

of our Lord, for the Apostles, for by the Apparition of our Lord,ex- 

the Holy Trinity, for the Cross, for cept it be his Epiphany, or eke 

tHeLeot-Fast, and for the Blessed his Transfiguration. 



"3 1 8 Of the Order for the Administration 

Cliap. VI. Scotch Liturgy is something different from this^, though 
^ " either of them I take to be in a more primitive method 

than our own. 

ilation, (of which hereafter ;) the Lord's Prayer, with this 
introduction, As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and 
taught us^ toe are hound to say^ Our Feather. After which the 
Priest was to say, The peace of the Lord be always with you : 
The Clerks, And with thy spirit. Then the Priest, Christ 
our Paschal Lamb is offered for us^ once for all^ ivhen he bare 
our sins in his body on the Cross ; for he is the very Lamb of 
■^ 'God^ that taketh away the sins of the world : wherefore let us 

keep a joyful and holy feast with the Lord, Then came the 
Invitation, the Confession, the Absolution, with the comfort- 
able Sentences out of Scripture : after those the Prayer of 
Address; immediately after which the Minister received, 
and distributed to the congregation. And during the Com- 
munion time the Clerks were to sing, beginning as soon as 
the Priest received, O Lamb of God, that takest away the 
sins of the world, Have mercy upon us : O Lamb of God, that 
takest away the sins of the World, Grant us thy peace. When 
the Communion was ended, the Clerks were to sing the 
Post-Communion, which consisted of the following senten- 
ces of Scripture, which were to be said or sung, every day 
one, viz. Matt. xvi. 24. xxiv. 13 Luke i. 68, 74, 75. xii. 43, 
46, 47. John iv. 23. v. 14. viii. 31, 32. xii. 36. xiv. 21. xv. 
7. Rom. viii. 31, 32, 33, 34. xiii. 12. 1 Cor. i. 30, 31. iii. 16, 
17. vi. 20. Ephes. v. 1, 2. This done, the Salutation passed 
between the Minister and People, The Lord be with you. 
And with thy Spirit. And then the Minister concluded the 
office with the second prayer in our present Post-Commun- 
ion and the blessing. How these several forms or the ru- 
brics that belong to them differ from the forms that we use 
now, I must show as I am treating upon the several particu- 
iars : 1 only set down the order of them here, to give the 
reader a general view of the whole. 

* In the Scotch Liturgy, after the prayer of Consecration 
follows immediately a prayer of Oblation*, (which is the same 
with the first prayer that follows the Lord's Prayer in our 
Post-Communion, beginning, Lord and heavenly Father, 
&c. but introduced with a proper introduction, which shall 
be given by and by.) After this prayer of Oblation follows 
the Lord's Prayer ; then comes the Address, and then the 
Priest receives and administers. After all have communi- 
cated is said the prayer, Almighty and everliviyig God, «^c. 
and so on as in ours. 

* This arrangement of the Scotch Liturgy has been followed in (he 
American. " Am. Ejd. 



«/ the Lor^s Supper <i or Boly Coamnunioii, 31^ 

Sect. XXII. Of the Prayer of Comecraiion. S ect.XXl!. 

The ancient Greeks and Romans would not taste ofxheanti-, 
their ordinary meat and drink till they had hallowed q^ity of it. 
it by giving the first parts of it to their gods^^: the 
Jews would not eat of their sacrifice till Samuel came 
to bless it^^: and the primitive Christians always began 
their common meals with a solemn prayer for a blesb'- 
ing^^ : a custom so universal, that it is certainly a part 
of natural religion : how much more then ought we to 
expect the prayers of the Priest over this mysterious 
food of our souls, before we eat of it? especially since 
our Saviour himself did not deliver this Bread and Wine 
until he had consecrated them by blessing them and 
giving thanks''\ So that this prayer is the most ancient 
and essential part of the whole Communion office; artd 
there are some who believe that the Apostles themselves, 
after a suitable introduction, used the latter part of it, 
from those words, Who in the same nighC^^ &c. and it is 
certain that no Liturgy in the world hath altered that 
particular, 

§. 2. But besides thi?, there was always inserted in the A ppayer 
primitive forms a particular petition for the descent of ^^^ *^^ J^' 
the Holy Ghost upon the sacramental Elements, which the'lloly 
was also continued in the first Liturgy of King Edward Ghost al- 
VI. in very express and open terms. Here us^ O merci- ways used 
ful Father^ we beseech thee, and with thy Holy Spirit and j^^i^l ^^ 
Word vouchsafe to bl-^-ess and sanc-^tify these thy gifts Churcl^ 
and creatures of Bread and Wine, that they may be unto us 
the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son Jesu? 
Christ, who in the same night, <^c. This, upon the scru- 
ples of Bucer, (whom I am sorry I have so often occa- 
sion to name,) was left out at the review in the fifth of 
King Edward ; and the following sentence, which he 
was pleased to allow of, inserted in its stead; viz. Hear 
us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and 
grant that we receiving these thy creatures of Bread and 
Wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus ChrisV^ ho* 
ly Institution, in remembrance of his Death and Passion, 
may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood, who 
in the same night, ^c. In these words, it is true, the sense 
of the former is still implied, and consequently by these 
the Elements are now consecrated, and so become the 
Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ. 

69 Alex, ab Alex. Gen Dier- 1. 71 T^rt, Apol. c. S9- p. 32. B. 
^9,c,2i, ' 72Matt.xxvi. 26.1 Corxi. 14.' 

70 1 Samnel ix, T!?: 73 AJcaia, dajDivia-Offiivcr^Q. 



320 Of the Order foi' the Administration 

Chap. VI. In the rubric indeed, after the form of Administration; 

; — the Church seems to suppose that the Consecration is 

the ^att^i- ^^^^ ^Y ^^^ words of Institution : for there it says, that 
bated the if ^^^^ consecrated Bread and Wine be all spent before all 
Con.*ecra- have communicated^ the Priest is to consecrate more accor- 
tion of the ^i^g [q the form before prescribed ; beginning at [Our Sav- 
ements. -^^^ Christ in the same night, <^c.] for the blesdng of 
the Bread ; and at [Likewise after Supper, &,c.] for the 
blessing of the Cup, This rubric was added in the last 
review : but to what end, unless to save the Minister 
some time, does nqt appear^ But what is very remark- 
able is, that it was taken from the Scotch Liturgy, which 
expressly calls the words of Institution the words of Con- 
secration* j though the compiler*? of it had restored the 
sentence that had been thrown ou- of King Edward's 
second Common Prayer, and united it with the clause 
in our present Liturgjyt, imagining, one would think, that 
the Elements were not consecrated without them. For 
though all churches in the world have, through all ages, 
used the \fords of Institution at the time of Consecra- 
tion ; yet none, I believe, except the Church of Rome, 
€ver before attributed the Consecration to the bare pro- 
nouncing of those words only : that was always attribu- 
ted, by the most ancient fathers to the prayer of the 
Church^"*. The Lutherans and Calvinists indeed both 



* To the end there may be little le/t^ he that ojfficiates is re- 
quired to consecrate with the least^ and thtn if there be rvant^ 
the "Words of Consecration may be repeated again^ over more^ 
either Bread or Wine : the Presbyter beginning at these words 
in the prayer of Consecration^ (Our Saviour in the night that 
he was betrayed, j^'c.) Scotch Liturgy, in the fifth rubric at 
the end of the Communion office. 

t Hear us^ O merciful Father^ we most humbly beseech thee*- 
and of thy Almighty goodnus'i vouchsafe so to bless and sancti* 
fy with thy Word and holy Spirit these thy gifts and creatures 
of Bread and Wine^ that they may be unto us the Body and 
Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son ; so that we receiving 
them according to thy Son our Saviour'^s holy Institution ia 
remembrance of his Death and Passion^ may be partakers of 
the same his most precious Body and Blood ; who in the night j 
4'C. Scotch Liturgy. 

74 1h <riEu;3^>i?— «v;^stg/r«3-«7(ratir Hieros. Catech. Mysta?;. 3. p.289. 
r^opvv. Just AJitrt. Apol 1. c. 86. Optat. adv. Parnien. lib. 6. Basil. 
p. 129c U^oa-ctyc/uivovi a.^rcvci<rd-i- de Spir. Sanct. c. 27 Chrysost. 
c/xiv caucL ytvoy.itovg S'isl twv ih^h. Homil. ia Cosmelerii Appellatio- 
Orig. contra Cels. lib. 8- See also nem. August, de Trinitat. 1. 3, c. 
Constit. Apost. 1. 8. c. 12. Cyril. 4. 



of the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion. 82l 

agree with the Papists, that the Consecration is made Sec. XXIf^* 
by the bare repeating the words of Institution^* ; the ^— 

reason perhaps of which is, because the words of Insti- 
tution are the only words recorded by the Evangelists 
and St. Paul, as spoken by our Saviour, when he admin- 
istered to his disciples. But then it should be consid- 
ered, that it is plain enough that our Saviour used other 
words upon the same occasion, though the very words 
are not recorded : for the Evangelists tell us, that he 
gave thanks, and blessed the Bread and Wine : and this 
sure must have been done in other words than those 
which he spoke at the delivery of them to his disciples : 
for blessing and thanksgiving must be performed by 
some words that are addressed lo God, and not by any 
words directed to men: and therefore the words which 
our Saviour spake to his disciples could not be the whole 
Consecration of the Elements, but rather a declaration 
of the effect which was produced by his consecrating or 
blessmg them. And therefore I humbly presume, that 
if the Minister should at the consecration of fresh Ele- 
ments, after the others are spent, repeat again the whole 
form of Consecration, or at least from those words, Hear 
us, O merciful Father, (^c, he would answer the end of 
the rubric^ which seems only to require the latter part 
of the form from those words, fVko in the same night, ^c* 
be always used at such Consecration. 

And this is certainly a very essential part of the ser- 
vice. For during the repetition of these words, the 
Priest performs to God the representative sacrifice of 
the death and passion of his Son. By taking the Bread 
into his hands, and breaking it, he makes a memorial to 
him of our Saviour's Body broken upon the Cross ; and 
by exhibiting the Wine, he reminds him of his Blood 
there shed for the sins of the world ; and by laying his 
hands upon each of them at the same time that he re- 
peats those words, Take, eat, this is my Body, <^c. and 
Drink ye all of this, ^c, he signifies and acknowledges 
that this commemoration of Christ's sacrifice so made 
to God, is a means instituted by Christ himself to con- 
vey to the Communicants the benefits of his death and 
passion, viz, the pardon of our sins, and God's grace and 
favour for the time to come. For this reason we find^ 
that it was always the practice of the ancients, in con- 

75 See their Book of Reforma- of their Sacranaents, &c. printed: 
tion of Doctrine, Admiuistration at London, bj John X)a>, 1547» 



322 Of the Order for the Administration 

^^'^P' ^ ^ secrating the Eucharist, to break the Bread, (after our 
Prp.nn/ Saviour's example,) to represent his Passion and Cruci- 
the Bread, "xion^^ The Roman Church indeed, mstead of break- 
aceremo- ing the Bread for the Communicants to partake of it, 
ufedb''?he ^"'-^^ breaks a single Wafer into three parts, (of which 
ancient * ^^ ^"^ partakes,) for the sake of retaining a shadow at 
Cbnrch in Jeast of the ancient custom. They acknowledge, it is 
consecra- true, that this is an alteration from the primitive prac- 

Eucharist, ^^^^ * ^^"^ ^^^" ^^^y "^o^ ^^^^ ^^^-^ ^^^ ^^^^ reason for 
making it, viz. lest in breaking the Bread some danger 
might happen of scattering or losing some of the crumbs 
or particles^^ ; as if Christ himself could not have fore- 
seen what dangers might happen, or have given as pru- 
dent orders as the Pope, concerning his own institution. 
Signing Very judiciously therefore did our good Reformers 

with the (though they ordered these words before t'ehearsed to he 
other'cere- '^^'^i turning still to the Altar ^ without any elevation or 
mony that shiwing the Sacrament to the peopW^^ yet) restore these 
was always other ceremonies to avoid superstition: and yet this 
same^/ime^ very restoration of them is charged as superstitious by 
* Bucer^^ ; who therefore objects to them, and prevails for 
the leaving them all out, as well as the above-mentioned 
petition for the descent of the Holy Ghost, together with 
the crossings that were then also used during the pro- 
nunciation of the said petition. The taking of the Bread 
and the Cup into the hands^ has indeed since been restor- 
ed, viz. first to the Scotch Liturgy, and then to our ©wn, 
even at the request of the Presbyterians, at the last re- 
view^^ But the signing of them with the Cross has ever 
since been discontinued : though I do not know that 
there is an ancient Liturgy in being, but what shews 
that this sign was always made use of in some part or 
other of the office of Communion". Such a number of 
crossings indeed as the Roman Missal enjoins, renders 
the service theatrical ; and are not to be met with in 
any other Liturgy : but one or two we always find; so 
much having been thought proper, on this solemn occa- 
sion, to testify that we are not ashamed of the Cross of 

76 See this proved in Mr. Bing- 79 Censur. apud Script. Angli- 
ham^s Antiquities book 15. chap. can. p. 472. 

3. vol. vi. pas;e 713, &c. 80 See the Proceedings of the 

77 Salraero. Tract. 30. in Act, Commissioners, Sec. page 18. and 
Ap. Chamier. deEuch. 1. 7. c. 11- the Reply, page 130. 

n. 26. p. 384. 81 VideetChrysostom.Demon- 

78 Rubric after the prayer of strat. Quod Christus sit Deus, c. 
Consecration in the first book of 9. et Aug. Horn. 118. in Johan. 
K, Edw. VI. 



af the, Lord^s Supper^ or Holy Communion, 323 

Christ, and that the solemn service we are then about Sect.XXII. 
is performed in honour of a crucified Saviour. And 
therefore as the Church of England has thought fit to 
retain this ceremony in the ministration of one of her 
Sacraments, I see not why she should lay it aside in the 
ministration of the other. For that may very well be 
applied to it in the ministration of the Eucharist, which 
the Church herself has declared of the Cross in Baptism, 
viz. That it was held in the primitive Church as well by the 
Greeks as the Latins, with one consent, and great applause : 
at what time, if any had opposed themselves against it, they 
would certainly have been censured as enemies of the name 
of the Cross, and consequently of ChrisCs merits, the sign 
whereof they could no better mdure*^, 

§. 3. But besides this, our Liturgy at that time suffered 
a more material alteration : the Prayer of Oblation, ^^ of^obia- 
which by the first book of King Edward was ordered tion miin- 
to be used after the prayer of Consecration, (and which <led and 
has since been restored to the Scotch * Common Pray- <l»splacec^ 
er,) being half laid aside, and the rest of it thrown mto 
an improper place; as being enjoined to be said by our 
present rubric, in that part of tne office which is to be 
used after the people have communicated; whereas it 
was always the practice of the primitive Christians to 
use it during the act of Consecration. For the holy 



* In the first book of King Edward and in the Scotch Lit- 
urgy, the first prayer in our Post-Communion is ordered 
immediately to follow the prayer of Consecration with this 
beginning : Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father^ accor- 
ding to the Institution of thy dea-ly beloved Son our Saviour 
Jesus Christ, we thy humble servants do celebrate and make 
here before thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, the 
memorial which thy Son hath willed us to make ; having in 
remembrance his blessed Passion, mighty Resurrection, and glo' 
rious Ascension, rendering unto thee most hearty thanks for the 
innuw.erable benefits procured unto us by the same : entirely de- 
siring thy fatherly goodness, ^c. as the first prayer goes on 
in our Post-Communion. And in King fcdward's book, to- 
wards the end of the same prayer, after the words. Our 
bounden duty and service, it follows thus : and command these 
our prayers and suppliceLtions, by the ministry of thy holy angels^ 
to be brought up into thy holy tabernacle, before the sight of thy 
divine Majesty, not weighing our merits^ ^c, 

82 Can. 30. A. D, 1603. 



324 



Of tht Order for the Adminislration 



Uhap. VI. Eucharist was, from the very first institution, esteemed 
' "~ and received as a proprr sacrifice and solemnly offered 
to God upon the Altar, before it was received and par- 
taken of by the Communi ants'', '■ n conformity where-^ 
unto, it was bishop OveiaiPs practice to use the first 
prayer in the Po>t-Communion office between the Con- 
secration and Administering^*, even when it was other- 
wise ordered by the public Liturgy. 
A various §• 4. In the begning of this prayer, instead of those 
reading in words, ONE Oblation of himself once offered^ which are now 
ftisprajer. pj-ifj^e^j jj^ i^iost Common Prayer Books; 1 have seen 
some that read own Oblation of himself once offered ; 
and so, among others, does Dr, Nichols give it us, in his 
edition of it ; which he says he corrected from a sealed 
book; though in several sealed books which 1 have col- 
lated myself, I have always found it One, as it is gene- 
rally in the common books. However, the words, as 
they ar'^, are not a tautology, (as some object,) but very 
copious and elegant, and allunng to thnt portion of 
Scripture in Hebrews k, where the One Oblation of 
Christ is opposed to the many kmds of sarrifices und^r 
the Law, and the once offered to the repetition of those 
sacrifices. 

§. 5, Dr. Nichols, in his note upon this prayer, has 
delivered his opinion, that it ought to be said by the 
Minister upon his knees ; and the reason he gives for it 
is, because it is a prayer. But that reason would hold 
for kneeling at several other prayers both in this and in 
other offices, which yet the rubric directs shall be used 
standing. As to this prayer indeed, the rubric does not 
mention any posture that the Minister shall be in at the 
saying it : for as to those words, Standing before the To- 
bh, I am of opinion, that they only relate to the posture 
of the Minister, whilst he is ordering the Elements: 
though in the Old Common Prayer Book it is very plain 
that they referred to the posture in which the Minister 
was to say the prayer ; the rubric then being no more 
than this, Then the Minisltr standing up^ shall say as fol- 
loweth. The rubric in the Scotch Liturgy is something 
larger, but, as 1 shall show in the next paragraph, direct- 
ly orders the Priest to stand. But as the rubric is now 
enlarged, thq construction shows that the word standing 



The Min- 
ister to 
stand at 
this pray- 
er, and in 
the Post- 
Commun- 
ion-office. 



83 The reader may see the sub- 
ject exhausted to the utmost satis- 
faction, by the Learned and Rev- 
.erend Mr- Johnson, irt his treat- 



ise on the Unbloody Sacrifice and 
Altar. 

84 See Dr. Nicholas additional 
Notes, page 49. 



of Lhz LonVs Supper^ or Holy Communion, 325 

siaiust refer to another thing. However, since the rubric, «ect.XXIL 
before the additions to it, was so very express for the 
Minister"'s standing at the Consecration ; I think it is 
very probable, that if they who made those additions 
had intended any alteration of the posture, they would 
certainly have expressed it. For Ministers that had 
been always used to stand when they consecrated, could 
never imagine that the new rubric directed them to kneel, 
when there was not one word of kneeling, but an express 
direction for standing, at the ordering of the Elements, 
without any following prescription for kneeling at this 
prayer, even in this new rubric. And I take it for gran- 
ted, that whenever the Church does not direct the Min- 
ister to kneel, it supposes him to stand. Though Dr. 
Nichols '-vill not allow of this ; " because," he says, 
^* thv re is not one rubric which obliges the Minister to 
*' kneel in all the Post-Communion service; and yet his 
/* does not know any one that has contended for the 
** posture of statiding in the performance of that part 
" of the service." What the Doctor has known I can- 
not tell : but I can afirm the direct contrary, that I nev- 
er knew one that contended for the posture of krseeliDg 
in the performance of that part of the service. But if 
any have done so, I am apt to think, that they act con- 
trary to the intention of the Church. For that she sup- 
poses the Minister to stand during that part of the ser- 
vice, I think is plain from her not ordering him to stand 
up whilst he gives the blessings, which she certainly 
would have done, if she had supposed him to have been 
kneeling before. And indeed in most part of the whole 
Communion office the Priest is directed to stand. In the 
beginning of the office he is ordered to say the Lord^s 
Prayer^ with the Colled following^ standing ; and so he is 
to continue whilst he repeats the Commandments : then 
follows one of the two Collects for the King, the Priest 
standing as before. Whilst he says the prayer for th& 
whole state of ChrisCs Churchy there is no posture men- 
tioned : but since both the Sentences before it, and the 
exhortation (at the lime of Communion) after it, are with- 
out doubt to be said standing, and yet no mention made 
that there shall be any change of posture during all that 
time ; it seems very evident that the Church designed 
that prayer to be said standing. At the general confess 
sion indeed it is very fit that the Minister should kneel, 
^nd therefore he is there directed to do so. And though 



326 Of the Order for the Admimstration 

i^^llll ^"^ *^"? knows in reason that he should stand at the 
~— Absolution^ yet that too is particularly mentioned in the 
rubric. From thence again to the Address^ brfore the 
prayer of Consecration, that being all an act of praise, 
he is to stand: but there again he is directed to kntel : 
but then at the end of it he is ordered to stand vp, and, 
after the ordering of the Bread and Wine, to say the 
Prayer of Consecration^ without any direction to kneel. 
Nor indeed would that be a proper posture for hini 
whilst he is performing an act of authority, as the con- 
secrating the ElemfMits must be allowed to be. Nor is 
he from hence to the end of the office to k.ieei any more, 
except just during the time of his own receiving. So 
that through the whole office he is ordered to kntel but 
three times, viz, the general Confession^ the Prayer of Ad" 
dress, anrl at his receiving the Elements : wnich being ihree 
places where there least wants a rubric to direct nim to 
kneel, (since, if there was no such rubric, a Minister would 
of his own accord kneel down at those times,) and yet 
there being an express direction at each of those places 
for him to kneel ; it is very evident, that where the ru- 
bric gives no such direction, the Minister is always to 
stand. 
Whether §• ^' ^^ if be asked whether the Priest is to say this 
the Priest prayer standing before the Table, or at the North-end 
be to say of it ; I answer, at the North-end of it : for according to 
standin?^'^ ^^^ ^^^^^ of grammar, the participle standing must refer 
before the ^^ the verb ordered, and not to the verb say. So that 
Altar. whilst the Priest is ordering the Bread and Wine, he is to 
stand before the Table: but when he says the Prayer, 
he is to stand so as that he may with the more readiness 
and deceney break the Bread before the People, which must 
be on the North-side. For if he stood before the Table, 
his body would hinder the people from seeing : so that 
he must not stand there ; and consequently he must 
stand on the North-side; there being, in our present ru- 
bric, no other place mentioned for performing any part 
of this office. In the Romish Church indeed they always 
stand before the Altar during the time of Consecration ; 
in order to prevent the people from being eye-witnesses 
of their operation in working their pretended miracle : 
and in the Greek Church they shut the chancel door, 
or at least draw a veil or curtain before it, I suppose, 
upon the same account^*. But our Church, that pretends 

85 Smith's Account of the Greek Church, page 135. 



of the Lord'^s Supper, or Holy Cbrhmunion* 327 

no such miracle, enjoins, we see, the direct contrary toSec.XXIH. 

this, by ordering the Priest so to order the Bread and — 

Wine, that he may with the more readiness and decency break 
the Bread, and take the Cup into his hands, before the Peo- 
ple* And with this view, it is probable, the Scotch Lit- 
urgy ordered, that during the time of Consecration the 
Presbyter should stand at such a part of the holy Table, 
where he may with the more ease and decency use both his 
hands. 

Sect. XXIII* Of the form of Administration* 

The holy Symbols being thus consecrated, the Com- Ef^^J^JjJfg 
municants must not rudely take every one his own part ; to be de- 
because God, who is the master of the feast, hath pro- livered by 
vided Stewards to divide to every one their portion. Jhe Mmu- 
Some persons indeed have disliked the Minister's deliv- communi- 
ering the holy Elements to each Communicant -, preten- cant, 
ding that it is contrary to the practice of our Saviour, 
who bid the Apostles take the Cup and divide it among 
themselve.s^\ But one would think that any one that 
reads the context would perceive that this passage does 
not relate to the Eucharist, but to the Paschal Supper ; 
since it appears so evidently from the nineteenth and 
twentieth verses ot the same chapter, that the Sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper was not instituted till after that 
Cup was drank. But as to the manner of his delivering 
the Sacrament, the Scriptures are wholly silent; and 
consequently we have no other means to judge what it 
was, but by the practice of the first Christians, who 
doubtless, as far as was convenient and requisite, imitated 
our Saviour in this as well as they did in other things : 
and therefore since it was the general practice among 
them for the Minister to deliver the Elements to each 
Communicant, we have as much authority and reason 
as can be desired to continue that practice still. 

§. 2. The Minister therefore that celebrateth is first 'OFi„ttothe 
receive the Communion in both kinds himself; then to pro- Clergy, 
ceed to deliver the same to the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, 
in like manner, (i. e. in both kinds,) if any be present, {that 
they may, help the chief Minister, as the old Common Pray- 
er has it or him that celebrateth^ as it is in the Scotch Li- And then 
turgy,) and after that to the People also in order. And Ijjj'^®^^^" 

86 Luke xxii. 17. 



hands. 



328 Of the Order foi- the Administration 

Chap. VI. xhis is consonant to the practice of the primitive Church< 
" in which it was always the custom for the Clergy to com- 
municate within the rails of the Altar, and before the 
Sacrament was delivered to the People®^* 

Into their §• 3. The rubric farther directs, that the Communion 
must be delivered both to the Clersjy and Laity into 
their hands; which was the most primitive and ancient 
way of receiving^^ In St. Cyril's time they received it 
into the hollow of their right hand, holding their left 
hand under their right in the form of a cross^^ And in 
some few ages afterwards, some indiscreet persons pre- 
tending greater reverence to the Elements, as if they 
were defiled with their handss put themselves to the 
charges of providing little saucers or plates of gold to 
receive the Bread, until they were forbidden by the sixth 
general counciP°. Another abuse the Church of Rome 
brought in, where the Priest puts it into the people's 
mouths, lest a crumb should fall aside ; which custom 
was also retained in the first book of King Edward VI. 
though a different reason was there alleged ; the rubric 
ordering that althou^;hit be read in ancient writers that the 
People many years past received^ at the Priest's hands, the 
Sacrament of the Body of Christ in their own hands^ and 
no commandment of Christ to the contrary ; yet for as 
much as they many times conveyed the same secretly away, 
kept it with them^ and diversely abused it to superstition a7id 
wickedness : lest any such thing hereafter should be attempt- 
Si Const. Aposf 1. 8. c. ^3. Horu. .'5. torn iii. p. 778. lin. 16. 
Concil. LaoH. Can 19. Concil. 89 Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 5. *. 

Tola.4. Can. ir. 18. p. 3u0. 

88 Enseb. Hi?t. Eccl. I. 6. c. 90 Can. 101. torn. 6. col. 11S6. 

43. p. 24.5. B. Chryg. in Ephes. i. A. 

* '•'■ The Minipfer is here ornereH first of all to receire the Commwn- 
lon in both kinH? himself, befor" he idminixtersit to ?he peop'e. But 
hou\ or in ivhat form of words he snail take it himself is not said : 
which is apt to produce !<ofne varit^ty of expresMon on such occasion t 
Bishop Cosin<s indeed had drawn up a fonn, w^)ioh all the Clergy were 
to follow, when they received the Co'^-manion themselves ; but H was 
not put in it the last revisal " Archdeacon Sharp as quoted by Bish- 
op Mant. Why should not the priest receive in silence, with only men- 
tal prayer. There seems to be a manifest impropriety in his using 
at that time thf words with which he is to administer to others ; for the 
first part is a benediction^ and the second, an exhortation. Would not 
a solemn stillness, at the moment when the priest receives, and when 
both he and a!' the Communicants aie enuaged in mental prayer, be in- 
finitely more affecting and impressive tlian any words he could ntter I. 

An. £f>. 



i>ftht Lorcfs Supper^ or Holy Communion, 325 

dd^ and thai an uniformity might be used throughout the Scc.XXItI< 
tukole realm, it was thought convenient the People should 
commonly receive the Sacrament of Chrisl^s Body in Ihtir 
mouths, at the PriesCs hand""^. But however Bucer cen- 
suring it, as savouring too much of an unlawful honour 
done to the Elements"^, it was discontinued at the next 
review, when the old primitive way of delivering it into 
the people's hands was ordered in the room of it. 

§. 4. The Communicants are enjoined, whilst they re- J"'^*"- ^P°s^ 
ceive this blessed Sacrament, to be all meekly kneeling, bfy rec*eiv- 
What posture the Apostles received it in, is uncertain : ed in a 
but we may probably conjecture that they received it posture of 
in a posture of adoration. For it is plain that our Say- auorauon. 
iour blessed and ^ave thanks both for the Bread and 
Wine; and prayers and thanksgivings, we all know, 
were always offered up to God in a posture of adoration ; 
and therefore we may very safely conclude that our 
blessed Saviour, who was always remarkable for out- 
ward reverence in devotion, gave thanks for the Bread 
and Wine in an adoring posture. 

Now it is very well known that it was a rule with the 
Jews to eat of the Passover to satiety : and therefore, 
since they had already satisfied hunger, they cannot be 
supposed to have eaten or drank so much of the holy 
Eucharist as that they needed repose while they did it : 
and since, as we have already hinted, they rose from 
their seats to bless the Bread, it cannot be imagined, 
that, without any reason, they would resolve to sit down 
again during the moment of eating it; and then, thoiigh 
they rose immediately a second time at the blessings 
which was performed before the delivery of the Cup^ 
that they immediately sat down again to taste the Wine^ 
as if they could neither eat nor drink the smallest quan- 
tity without sitting. 

This indeed does not amount to a demonstration, but 
is yet a very probable conjecture ; and shows how 
groundlessly they argue, who, from the Apostles eating 
the Passover sitting or leaning upon the left side, (which 
was the table-gesture among those nations,) conclude,^ 
that they ate the Eucharist in the same posture, because 
it was celebrated at the same time. 

But besides, we may observe that the Passover itself 'The ^xaifr- 
was, at the first institution of it, commanded to be eaten Apo^ues^ 

91 See (he last rubric at (he Kins: Edward's first book. j^jj^^j ^^^ 

«nd of the Communion-office in 92 Script. Anglican- p* 46S. 



330 Of the Order for the Admimstraiwn 

^^P' ^'^ ' standing and in haste^^^ to express the haste they were in 
■* lo be delivered out of their slavcrj^ and bondage : but 

afterwards, when thej were settled in the Land of Prom- 
ise, they ate it in a quite contrary posture, viz. siltmg, 
or lying; down to it. as lo a feast, to signify they were 
then at rest, and in possession of the land. And with 
this custom (though we do not find any where that it 
was ever commanded, or so much as warranted by God) 
did our blessed Saviour comply, and therefore doubdess 
thought that the alteration of the circumstances was a 
justifiable reason for changing the ceremonies. But 
was it ever so certain that a table-gesture was used at the 
institution of the Eucharist, yet it is very reasonable, 
since the circumstances of our blessed Saviour are now 
diiferent from what they were at the Institution, that our 
outward demeanor should also vary. The posture which 
might then be suitable in the Apostles is not now suita- 
ble in us : while he was corporally present with them, 
and they conversed with him as man, without any awful 
dread upon them, which was due to him as the Lord of 
Heaven and Earth, no wonder if they did use a table- 
posture : but then their familiarity ought to b^j no pre- 
cedent for t«, who worship him in his Glory^ and con- 
verse with him in the Sacrament, as he is spiritually 
present; and who therefore should be very irreverent 
to approach Jiim in any other posture than that of ador- 
ation. 
When ^^ ^^ ^b^ punctual time when the posture of kneeling 

kneeling first began, it is hard to determine ; but we are assured 
firstbegan. ^[lat it hath obtained in the Western Church above^ twelve 
hundred years ; nnd though anciently they stood in the 
East--*, yet it was with fear and trembling, with silence and 
downcast eyes^ bowing themselves in the posture of worship 
and adoration^^. 
Howuni- But it is now the custom of the Greek, Roman, Luthe- 
versal a pan, and most churches in the world, to receive kneel- 
practice. ^^^^ . ^^j. j^ ^^^ scruple it, but they who study preten- 
ces to paliate the most unjustifiable separation, or de- 
signed neglect of this most sacred ordinance. 
The Pope And it is worth observing, that they who at other 
reccires timcs Cry out SO much against the Church of England 
the fcacra- ^^j. petainins: several ceremonies, which, though indifFer- 

^'"5- P3 Exodns xli. n. 95 Cyril. Catech. Mjstag. 5. 

94 Eiiseb. Hist. Eccl. I. 7. c. 9. i. 19. p. 3U1. 
p. 255. S. 



of the Lord^s Supper ^ or Holy Communion. 331 

ent in themselves, ihey say become unlawful by being S ecXXlII 
abused by superstition and popery, can, in this more "" 
solemn and material ceremony: agree even with the 
Pope himself, (who receives sittings) rather than not 
diifer from the best and purest Church in the world*^ . . 

Nor may I pass by unobserved that the posture of ^'hom^in- 
^itting was first brought into the Church by the Arians ; troduced, 
wiio stubbornly denying the divinity of our Saviour, 
thought it no robbery to be equal with him, and to 
sit down with him at his table ; for which reason it was 
justly banished the reformed church in Poland, by a 
general Synod, A. D. 15153. And it is the Pope's opin- 
ion of his being St. Peter's Successor, and Christ's Vi- 
cegerent, which prompts him to use such familiarity with 
his Lord^^ 

§. 5. As for the words of Administration ; the first part The form 
of them, viz. The Body or The Blood of our Lord Jesus of words, 
Christ, was the only form used in St. Ambrose's time 
at the delivery of the Bread and Wine^', to which the 
receivers answered, Amen^^ ; both to express their de- 
sire that it might be Christ's Body and Blood unto them, 
and their firm belief that it was so. The next words, 
•preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Lije, were ad- 
ded by St. Gregory^ : and these with the former were 
all that were to be used at t^he delivery of the Elements, 
during the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward 
VI. But these words, I suppose, being thought at that 
time to savour too much of the real Presence in the Sac- 
rament, which was a doctrine that then was thought to 
imply too much of Transubstantiation to be believed ; 
<hey were therefore left out of the second book, and the 
following words prescribed in the room of them. Take 
mid eat this, &c. or Drink this, S^c, as in the latter part 
of our present forms. But these on the other side re- 
•ducing the Sacrament to a bare eating and drinking in 
remembrance of the Death and Passion of our Lord; 
they were in a little time as much disliked as the former. 
And therefore, upon Queen Elizabeth's accession to the 
throne, (whose design and endeavour was to unite the 
nation as much as she could in one doctrine and faith,) 

96 Durand. Rational. 1. 4. c. 54. iEthiopic. Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 
num. 5. 5. j ig 

97 Durand. ibid. 1 Vide Durand. deRit. Eccles. 

98 Ambr. de Sacr. 1. 4. c. 5. Cathol. I. 2. c. 5S. numb. 16. p, 
torn. iv. col. 368. G. 287, 

99 Lilurg. Clement. Basil. 



33^ Of the Order for the Mminislratiorh 

Jjhop. VI. bqtfj these forms were enjoined to be used (as we have 
them still) to please both parties. Though in the Scotch 
Liturgy the^'last clause was a^ain thrown out, and the 
former onlj (which was prescribed by the first book) 
retained, with a direction to the receiver to say Amen ; 
which is undoubtedly the most agreeable to the primi- 
tive practice, and to the true notion of the Eucharist. 
Commun- §• 6, Where there are two or more Ministers present, 
ion jr, one it is the custom for the chief Minister, or lor him that 
kind ex- consecrates, to administer only the Body, and for an- 
other to follow and administer the Cup. Agreeable to 
an old rubric in King Edward's first Liturgy, which or- 
ders, that if there be a Deacon or other Priest, then shall ht 
follow with the Chalice : and a& the Priest minisiereth the. 
Sacrament of the Body^ so shall he {for more expedition^ 
minister the sacrament of the Blood, m form before written* 
For our church does not (with the Roman Church) rob 
the people of half the Sacrament, but administers to the 
Laity as well as the Clergy under both kinds. The Ro- 
manists indeed pretend that Christ administered under 
both kinds only to the Apostles, whom he had made 
Priests just before, and gave no command that it should 
be so received by the Laity. But we would ask, 
whether the Apostles were not all that were then pre- 
sent? If they were, in what capacity did they receive 
it ? how did they receive the Bread before the Hocfaci' 
te ? {Do this) as Priests, or as Laymen ? it is ridiculous 
to suppose those words changed their capacity : though 
if we should allow they did, yet it would only relate to 
consecrating, and not to receiving, but if Christ only 
gave it to the Apostles as Priests, it must necessarily 
follow, that the people are not at all concerned in one 
kind or the other; but that each kind was intended only 
for Priests, For if the people are concerned, how came 
they to be so? Where is there any command but what 
refers to the fi^-st Institution ? So that it had been much 
more plausible, according to this answer, to exclude the 
people wholly, than to admit them to one kind, and to 
debar them of the other. 

Not so, say they, because Christ himself administered 
the Sacrament to some of his disciples under one kmd 
only*. But to make out this we require, first. That it be 
proved that Christ did then administer the Sacrament j 
or, secondly, if he did, that the Cup was not implied ; 

2 Luke xxiv. 30. 



of tilt Lord''s Supper, or Holy Communion, 333 

since breaking of Bread, when taken for an ordinary S^cXXIV. 
meal in Scripture, does not exclude drinking at it. '- 

When we appeal to the practice of the primitive ages, 
they leave us : and the most impartial of them will allow 
that the custom of coinmunicating under one kind only, 
as is now used in the Church of Rome, was unknown to 
the world for a thousand years after Christ^ . In some 
cases (it is true) they di[)ped the Bread in the Wine, as 
in the case of baptized infants, (to whom they adminis- 
tered the Eucharist in those primitive times,) and of very 
veak, dying persons, who could not otherwise have 
swallowed the Bread; and also that by this means they 
might keep the Sacramen'. at home against all emergent 
occasions. And this probably might in time make the 
way easier for introducing the Sacrament under the kind 
of Bread only. 

§. r. When all have communicated^ the Minister is direct- Of the Cor- 
ed to return to the Lord''s Table, and reverently place upon ^\^^^^ 
it what remainelh of the consecrated Elements, covering the ^ - 
same with a fair Linen Clofh ; which by the ancient 
writers and the Scotch Liturgy (in which this rubric 
first appeared) is called the Corporal, from its being 
spread over the Body or consecrated Bread'*, and some- 
times the PaW, I suppose for the same reason. The 
institution of it is ascribed to Eusebius Bishop of Rome, 
who lived about the year 300*. And that it was of 
common use in the church in the fifth century, is evi- 
dent from the testimony of Isidore Peleusiota, who also 
observes that the design of using it was to represent the 
Body of our Saviour being wrapped in fine linen by 
Joseph of Arimathea^ 

Sect. XXIV. Of the Lord's Prayer. 

It is rudeness in manners to depart from a friend's Oftbecon- 
house so soon as the Table is removed, and an act of ^^"^"?S 
irreligion to rise trom our common meals without prayer 
and thanksgiving ; how much more absurd and indecent 
then would it be for us to depart abruptly from the 
Lord's Table! Our Saviour himself concluded his last 

3. Secnndum antiqnarn Eccles- in Johan. vi» 

iae consiietuHinem, omnes tdin 4 Alciiin. de Offir. Divin. 

Corpori quam Sancuini comrauai- 5 Rad. Tungr. de Can. Obs. 

cabanf : quod et'am adhuc m qui- 6 Vid. Gratian de Const. Dist.2. 

buadam Ecclesiis serratur. Aquin. 7 Isid. Peleus. Ep. 123. 



334 Of the Order for the Adminisiralion 

'Chap. y\ Supper with a hymn*, (supposed to be the Paschal Hal- 
■ lelujaK) in imitation of which all churches have finished 

this feast with solemn forms of prayer and thanksgiving. 
The Lord's §. 2. The Lord^s Prayer is placed first, and cannot in- 
Prayer deed be any where used more properly : for having 
why used ^^^^^ received Christ in our hearts, it is fit the first words 

erst alter 1111 • • •/» r-n • 

f«c£iving. we speak should be his; as if not only we, but Christ 
lived and spake in us. We know that to as many as re- 
ceive Christ, he gives power to become the Sons of God^, so 
that we may now all with one heart and one voice ad- 
dress ourselves cheerfully unto God, and very properly 
call him, Our Father, <^c. 
The Dox- §• 3- 'I he Doxology is here annexed, because all these 
ology why devotions are designed for an act of praise, for the ben- 
added efits received in the holy Sacrament. 

Sect. XXV. Of the first Prayer after the Lord'^s Prayer, 

The de- J HAVE already observed, that in the first Common 
sign of it. Prayer of King Edward VI. and in that drawn up for 
the Church of Scodand, this first Prayer in the Post- 
Communion was, with a proper intr >duction, ordered to 
be used immediately after the prayer of Consecration ; 
not but that what remains of it is very proper to be used 
after communicating. For St. Paul beseeches ns, by the 
mercies of God, to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice, 
holy and acceptable to God, as our reasonable service^^. And 
the fathers esteemed it one great part of this office to 
dedicate ourselves to God. For since Christ hath put 
us in mind of his infinite love in giving himself for us_, 
and in this Sacrament hath given himself to us; and 
since we have chosen him for our Lord, and solemnly 
vowed to be his servants ; it is very just and reasonable, 
that we should also give up ourselves wholly to him in 
such a manner as this form directs us. 

Sect. XXVI. Of the second Prayer after the Lord^s^ 
Prayer, 

inort ^VHEN we communicate often, it may be very grate- 
ful, and sometimes very helpful to our devotions, to va- 
ry the form : for which cause the Church hath supplied 

S Matt. xxvi. 30, 10 Rom* xii. t. 

9 John i. 12. 



o/the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion* 335 

us with another praj^er* ; which, being more fuUof prais- Sec.XXVlL 
es and acknowledgments, will be most suitable when our 
minds have a joyful sense of the benefits received in 
this Sacrament: as the former, consisting chiefly of 
vows and resolutions, is most proper to be used when 
we would express our love and duty* 

SfiCT. XXVII. Of the Gloria in Excelsis, or the An" 
gelic Hymn, 

To conclude this office with an Hymn, is so direct an Glory be 
imitation of our Saviour's practice", that it hath ever J? ?°J,(,°^ 
been observed in all churches and ages. And though *^ ' 
the forms may differ, yet this is as ancient as any now 
extant. The former part of it is of an heavenly origin- 
al, being sung by angels at our Saviour's Nativity*^ ; and 
was from thence transcribed into the oriental Liturgies, 
especially St. James's, where it is thrice repeated. The 
latter part of it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the 
year of Christ 139; and the whole Hymn, with very 
little difference, is to be found in the Apostolical Con- 
stitutions*^ and was established to be used in the church^ 
service by the fourth council of Toledo about a thous- 
and years ago*^. In the present Roman Missal it stands 
in the beginning of this office, as it does also in the first 
Common Prayer of King Edward VI. where it immedi- 
ately follows the Collect for Purity ; though it is now, I 
think, placed much more properly at the close of the 
Communion, when every devout communicant being full 
of gratitude, and longing for an opportunity to pour out 
his soul in the praises of God, cannot have a more sol- 
emn and compact form of words to do it in than this. 
In the Greek Church it makes a constant part of the 
morning devotions, as well upon ordinary days, as upon 
Sundays and holy-days ; only with this difference, that 
upon ordinary days it is only read^ whereas upon more 
solemn times it is appointed to be sung". 

11 Matt. xxvi. 30. 14 Can. 13. torn v. col. 1710,A. 

12 Luke ii. 14. 15 Dr. Smith's Account of tlie 

13 Lib. r. cap. 48. Greek Church, page 224. 

♦Thif prayer, which in the Liturgy of the Church of England is al- 
lowed to be used occasionally, instead of the one above mentioned, is 
used constantly in the post Communion service of the American Litur- 
gy ; The first prayer being more properly, as is allowed by all the 
English ritoaltets, iutrodticeil after the prayer qf C^nsewatitB. Am, Eb. 



336 Of the Order for the Administration 

CW^I. Sect. XXVIII. Of the final Blessing, 

ofGod^ST. ^ -^^ people were always dismissed from this ordin- 
ance hy a solemn Blessing pronounced by the Bishop if 
present, or in his absence, by the Priest^**: and none 
were allowed to depart till this was given by the one or 
the other^^ 

The form here used is taken chiefly from the words 
of Scripture: the first p:^rt of it from Philippians iv, T. 
and the latter part being no other than a Christian par- 
aphrase upon Numbers vi. 24, &:c. 

Sect. XXIX. Of the additional Prayers* 

ditional ' LEST there should be any thing left unasked in this 
Prayers, excellent office, the Church hath added six* Collects 
more to be used at the Minister's discretion : concern- 
ing which it will be sufficient to observe, that they are 
plain and comprehensive, and almost every sentence of 
them taken out of the Bible, aiid are as proper to be 
joined to any other office as this. For which reason 
the rubric allows them to be said as often as occasion 
shall serve, after the Collects either of Morning or Evening 
Prayer, Communion or Litany, by the discretion of the 
Minister, 
The rubric When they are added to the Communion-office on 
these^Col- Sundays and holy-days that have no Communion, they 
lects how are ordered to be said after the offertory : from whence 
to be re some have imagined thnt the Prayer for the Church mili- 
^^"h'^h^ /an/ is part of tlie offertory ; because in the first rubric, 
first rubric ^^ ^1^^ ^"^^ of the whole office, that prayer, on such daysj 
after them, is always to be used, and then one or more of these Col- 
lects are to follow. But that the offertory- only signi- 
fies the Sentences that are read whilst the alms and other 
devotions of the people are collecting, I have already 
. had occasion to mention^'. To reconcile this difference, 
therefore, the reader must observe, that by the first 

leConcil Agath. Can. 30. torn. 17 Cone. Agath. Can. 47. (oin« 

iv. col- 1388. B. iv. col 1391. A. 

18 See pa<e 228. 

* In the American Prayer book there are but five ; that which is the 
second in the Euglifh, bee inning " O Almighty Lord and Everlasting 
God, vouchsafe, &c.*' beins; inserted after the Conr.raandments, instead 
of the two Collects for the King. See sec. V. and note p. 287. 

Am. Ed 



of the Lord^s Supper^ or Ilohj Communion, 33? 

book of K. Edward VI. the prayer for Christ's church Sec XXX. 
was never to be read but when there was a Communion. ~' 
So that then if there was no Communion, these collects 
were properly ordered to be said after the offertory. 
But the Communion-office being afterwards thrown into 
a different form, the prayer for the Church militant was 
added to that part of the service, which was ordered to 
be read on Sundays and other holy-days that had no 
Communion, without altering the rubric of which i am 
now speaking. And this is that v/hich makes the ru- 
brics a little inconsistent. However the difference is 
not much. For the Collects are still to be said after the 
offertory, though not immediately after, as formerly, the 
prayer for the Church militant coming in between. 

Sect. XXX. Of the Ruhrics after the Communion, 

In the primitive Church, while Christians continued in DailjCom- 
their strength of faith and devotion, those who were qual- Uje^primt-" 
ified generally communicated once every day^^ ; which live 
custom continued till after St, Augustine's time^^ : but af- Church, 
terward, when charity grew cold, and devotion faint, this 
custom was broke off; and they fell from every day to 
Sundays and holy-days only, and thence at Antioch to 
once a year and no tnore^^ 

In regard of this neglect, canons were made by sever- Christmas, 
al councils to oblige men to receive three times a year Easter, 
at least, viz, at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, l^^^^^J^^^' 
(probably in conformity to the ancient Jews, who were ^hy pre- 
commanded by God himself to appear bafore the Lord scribed 
at the three great feasts that correspond to these ; viz. ^""^'s "f^ 
in the feast of unleavened Breads and m the feast of Weeks, eating. 
and in the feast of Tabernacles^^ ;) and those that neglect- 
ed to communicate at those seasons, were censured and 
anathematized^. 

At the Reformation our Church took all the care she The care 
could to reconcile her members to frequent Commun- Church 
ion. And therefore in the first Common Prayer Book about fre^ 

qaent 

19 Cypr. de Orat. Dom. p. 14,7, thi? and the fore.:coing' particulars Couiniu- 
Bdsil.Epist. 289. torn. iii. p. 279. proved at large in Mr. Bingham's uiou. 

A. B. Antiquities, book xv. chap. 9. 

20 Aug. Ep. 98. torn. v. col. 22 Deut. xvi. 2t>. 

267. E. Ep. 54. torn. ii. col. 124- 23 Concil, Agatb. Can. 18. torn. 

C. iv. col. 1386. C. But see mort; in 

21 Ambr. de Sacranj. 1. 5. c. Mr, Bioghaai, as before. 
4. torn. iv. col. 371. K. But see 

Ss 



338 



Of the Order for the Adminlstraiiom 



Chap. vl. of King Edward VI. it was ordered that iipon IVudnes^ 
" days and Fridays, though there were none to commumcaie 

with the Priest, yet {after the Litany ended) the Priest should 
put upon him a plain .^Ib or Surplice, with a Cope, and say 
all things at the Altar, (appointed to be said at the celebra- 
tion of the Lord'^s Supper,) until after the Offertory. — And 
the same order was to be used all other days, whensoever the 
people were accustomably assembled to pray in the church, 
and none were disposed to communicate with the Priest, 
From whence it appears they took it for granted, that 
there would always be a sufficient number of communi- 
cants upon every Sunday and holy-day at the least; so 
that they could not so much as suppose there would be 
no Communion upon any of those days. But it seems 
they feared that upon other days there might some- 
times be none to communicate with the Priest, and so 
no Communion : and therefore they ordered, that if it 
should so happen for a whole week together, yet never- 
theless upon Wednesdays and Fridays in every week 
so much should be used of the Comuiuaion-service as is 
before limited. But afterwards, as piety grew colder 
and colder, the Sacrament began to be more and more 
neglected, and by degrees quite laid aside on the ordin- 
ary week-days. And then the Church did not think it 
convenient to appoint any of this service upon any oth- 
niou-ffioe er days than Sundays and holy-days. But upon those 
to be read days she still requires that (although there be no Commune 
on evprv ^-^^^ y^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^1^^^ -^ appointed at the Commun- 
ion, until the end of the general prayer, [for the whole 
state of Christ's Church militant here on edLrth,] together 
with one or more of the Collects at the end of the Cornmmun- 
ion-ofjice, concluding with the Blessing*, 



Rubric 1. 

Part of the 
Coinmu- 



OQ every 
Sunday 
and holy- 
day, 
though 
therfc bs 
no Com- 
munion. 



* in all the books between King Edward's first aad our 
present one, it was said only, upon the holy-days, if there he no 
Coinmunion, ^'C. which supposed that upon the Sundays there 
would be a Communion. Upon the holy-days too this office 
is to be saiil to the end of the homily concluding with the prayer 
(for the whole state, ^'c.) and one or more of the Collects be- 
Jore rehearsed, as occasion shoulil serve. VVhich shows that 
it was then the design of the Church, that upon all holy- 
days there should be a Homily at least, if not a Sermon. 
And though that direction be left out now, yet still it may be 
implied; since the rubric that enjoins the Homily or Ser- 
mon comes within that puii of the icrvice which is here or- 
dered to be used. 



of the Lord-6 Sapper, or Holy Communion, 359 

One reason of which order seems to be, that the Sec. XXX. 

Church may still show her readiness to administer the 

Sacramcnl upon these days ; and so that it is not hers '^j^® ?;?' 
nor the Mmister s, but the peoples fault, it it be not ad- 
ministered. For the Minister, in obedience to the 
Church's order, goes up to the Lord's Table, and there 
begins the Service appointed for the Communion ; and 
goes on as far as he can, till he come to the actual cele- 
bration of it: and if he stop there, it is only because 
there are none, or not a sufficient number of persons to 
communicate with him. For if there were, he is there 
ready to consecrate and administer it to them. And 
therefore if there be no Communion on any Sunday or 
holj^-day in the year, the people only are to be blamed. 
The Church hath done her part in ordering it, and the 
Minister his in observing that order : and if the people 
would do theirs too. the holy Communion would be con- 
stantly celebrated in every parish-church in England, 
on every Sunday and holy-day throughout the year. But 
though this may hold in some places, yet I cannot say 
it will in all ; especially in populous towns and cities ; 
where my charity obliges me to believe, that if the min^ 
isters would but make the experiment, they would find 
that they should never want a sufficient number of Com- 
municants, whenever they themselves should be ready 
to administer the Sacrament. And even in other pla- 
ces it were to be wished, that the Elements were placed 
ready upon the Table on all Sundays and holy-days : 
for then the people could not help being put in mind of 
what the Church looks upon as their duty at those 
times ; and I persuade myself, that the Minister would 
generally find a number sufficient ready to communicate 
with hina- 

But another reason why so much of this service is or- 
dered to be read, though there be no Com.munion, is be- 
cause there are several particular things in that part of 
it, which ought to be read as well to those who do not 
communicate, as to those who do. As, first, the Deca- 
logue or Ten Commandments of Almighty God, the su- 
preme Lawgiver of the world, which it is requisite the 
people should often hear and be put in mind of, es- 
pecially upon those days which are immediately dedi- 
cated to hi?, service. Secondly, the Collects, Epistles, 
and Gospels, proper to all Sundays and holy-days, with- 
out which those festivals could not be distinguished eith- 
er from one another, or even from ordinary days, nor 



340 Of the. Order for the jldniinis [ration 

Chap. VI. consequently celebrated so as to ansv/er the end of tiieir 

- — institution. Thirdly, the Nicene Creed, wherein th*2 

divinity of our blessed Saviour is asserted and declared, 
and therefore very proper to be used on those days 
which are kept in memory of him and of his holy Apos- 
tles, by whom that doctrine, together with our whole 
religion grounded upon it, was planted and propagated 
in the world. Fourthly, the Offertory, or select Senten- 
ces of Scripture, one or more of vvdiich are to be read to 
stir up the congregation to offer unto God something of 
what he hath given them, as an acknowledgment that 
they receive from him all they have ; which, howsoev- 
er it be now neglected, the people ought to be put in 
mind of at least every Lords day^"\ Fifthly, the prayer 
for the whole stale of Christ's church miliUmt here on earthy 
in which we should all join as fellow-members of the 
same body, especially upon the great festivals of the 
year, which are generally celebrated by the whole 
Church we pray for. Most of these things made up the 
Missa Catechu mcmonim of the ancient Church, 2. e, that 
part of the service at which the Catechumens, who were 
not admitted to the reception of the Eucharist, were 
allowed to be present^^ And in our own congregations, 
when there is a Communion, those who do not commu- 
nicate never depart till the end of the Nicene Creed, for 
the abovesaid reasons; which shows, that there is no- 
thing in that part of the service, but what may very 
properly be used upon any Sunday and holy-day when 
there is no Com.munion. Nor is this a practice of our 
own Church alone, bat such as is warranted both by 
Greeks and Latins. Socrates tells us*^ that in Alexan- 
dria, upon \7cdnrsdays and Fridays the Scriptures were 
read and expounded by their teachers, and all things 
were done in the Communion, but onlj'' consecrating the 
mysteries. Arid as for the Latin Church, Durandus 
gives direction how the Communion service might be 
read without any Communion". 
This part §• 2. I have supposed in one of the former paragraphs, 
of the of- that this part of the Communion-office (though there be 
fice to be j^q communion) is yet always read at the Communion- 
Altar,* ^ ^ Table or Altar. 1 know indeed it is very frequently 
ihoug'h performed in the Desk. But I think the very reason 

there be 

no Com- 24 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 26 Socrat. Hist. 1. a c. 21. 

munion. 25 See Mr. Bingham^s Andqui- 27 Dnrand. Rational. 1. 4. c. L 

i. fie?, L 14. num. 23. fol. 90. 



oftM Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion* 341 

why the Church appoints so much of this office uponSec.XXX. 

the Sundays and other holy-da}'s, though there be no — •' 

Communion, is also a reason why it should be said at 
the Altar. For the Minister's reading the office till he 
can go no farther for want of Communicants, I have ob- 
served, was designed in order to draw Communicants to 
the Table. And therefore is it not fit that the Minister 
himself should be readj^ at the place, whither he himself 
is inviting others? For this reason, in the first book of 
King Edward, the rubric above cited ordered expressly 
that it should be said at the Altar. Bucer indeed thought 
this tended too much towards creating in people's minds 
superstitious notions of the Mass^* ,* and in the second 
book of King Edward, which was moddled according to 
his directions, those words were left out. Though it is 
not irnprobable that as the word Altar was thrown out ev- 
ery where else in this office, so it might be left out of 
this rubric upon dislike of the name ; without any in- 
tention to alter the place where this part of the service 
on such days should be said. And indeed I cannot un- 
derstand how this alteration could give an authority for 
the using any part of this office at any other place 
than the Lord's Table; so long as there was another 
rubric at the beginning of it, which still ordered that the 
Priest should stand at the Korth-side of the Table, and 
there say the Lord's Pra3''er with what follows, without 
any allowance or permission to say it any where else 
when there was no Communion. It is certain that our 
Bishops still apprehended, that it was to be said there ; 
since several of them, in their visitations, enjoined the 
Ministers to read it at the holy Table ; and there, Mr. 
Hooker tells us, it was in his time commonly read^'. 
And that the Episcopal Commissioners appointed to re- 
view the Liturgy at the Restoration of King Charles IL 
supposed and intended it should continue to be per- 
formed there, appears from the Account of the Proceedings ' 
of the Commissioners of both persuasions. The Puritans 
had desired, " That the Ministers should not be required 
" to rehearse any part of the Liturgy at the Communion 
" Table, save only those parts which properly belong 
" to the Lord's Supper ; and that at such times only- 
SB Buceri Censura, p. 458. 29 Ecclesiastical Polity, I, 5. 

i.30. 



3 42 



Of Ike Order for tht Adminislration 



Chap. VI. 



The care 
of our 
Church 
about fre- 
quent 
i 'ommii- 
nion. 
Rubric 4. 



Rubric 8. 



" when the said holy Supper is administerd^*'." How 
this was received by the Episcopal Ministers, may be 
gathered from the Puritans' reply. *' You grant not," 
say they, " that the Communion-service be read in the 
" Desk when there is no Communion : but in the late 
" form, (t. e, 1 suppose some occasional form that was 
" then published,) instead thereof it is enjoined to be 
*'• done at the Table, (though there be no rubric in the 
Common Prayer Book requiring it^^") Now from hence 
i think it is plain, that they, who were commissioned to 
review the Liturgy, designed that this office should be 
always read at the Altar, though they did not add any 
new rubric to order it, because, I suppose, they thought 
the general rubric above mentioned sufficient. 

§. 3. But to return to the care of our Church in rela- 
tion to frequency of Communions: how zealous she still 
is to bring her members to Communicate oftener than 
she can obtain, is apparent from her enjoining, that in 
Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and Colleges^ where 
there are many Priests and Deacons, they shall all receive 
the Communion with the Priest every Sunday at least, eX' 
cept they have a reasonable cause to the contrary ; and from 
her farther requiring every Parishioner in general to com- 
municate at the least three times in the year, of which Easter 
to he one^; because at that time Christ, our Passover, 



*The rubric that related to the frequency of Communion 
in King Edward's first book was this : Also that the receiving 
the Sacrament of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ, may 
be most agreeable to the Insiitntion thereof, and to the wage of 
the primitive Church ; in all Cathedral and Collegiate Church- 
es, there shall always some communicate with the Priest that 
m-iniiiereth. And that the same may be also observed every 
'where abroad in the country ; some one at the least of that 
house in every parish, to which by course, after the ordinance 
herein made, it appertaineth to offer for the charges of the 
Communion, or some other, which they shall provide to offer 
for them, shall receive the holy Communion with the Priest : the 
which may be the better done, for that they know before when 
their course cometh, and may therefore dispose themselves to 
the worthy receiving of the Sacrament. And with him or them 
who doth so offer the charges of the Communion, all other who 



30 See the exceptions against 
the Book of Common Prater, 
page 6. 



31 See the Preface (o ihe Pa- 
pers that passed between the Com- 
missioners. 



«/ the Lorcfs Supper^ or Holy Co7rtmum9n» 34S 

was sacrificed for us, and by his death (which we com- S ec. XXX 
memorate in this Sacrament) obtained for us everlasting ~ 
life. 

6. 4. Every one may communicate as much oftener as J"^"^,^' 

1^1 •', ^, •^, , • .i • .3. Solitary 

he pleases: the Church only puts m this precaution, n^j^gs^g j^^-^ 
that there shall be no celebration of the Lorcfs Supper^ ct- allowed of. 
cept there be a convenient number to communicate with the 
Priests, according to his direction. And if there be not 
above twenty persons in the Parish of discretion to receive 
the Communion, yet there shall be no Communion, except 
four {or three at the hast) communicate with the Priest, 
And this is to prevent the solitary Masses which had 
been introduced by the Church of Rome, where the 
Priest says Mass, and receives the Sacrament himself, 
though there be none to communicate with him : which 
our Church disallows, not permitting the priest to con- 
secrate the elements, unless he has three at least to com- 
municate with him, because our Saviour seems to require 
three to make up a congregation'^. 

§. 5. The fifth rubric is designed to take away all Rubric 5. 
those scruples which over-conscientious people used to 
make about the Bread and Wine. As to the Bread, whether to 
some made it essential to the Sacrament to have /eau- be leaven- 
enedf others unleavened ; each side, in that, as well as in ^d or ua- 
other matters of as small moment, superstitiously ma- ^^^^^'^^^' 
king an indifferent thing a matter of conscience. Our 
Saviour doubtless used such Bread as was ready at 
hand : and therefore this Sacrament being instituted im- 
mediately after the celebration of the Passover, at which 
they were neither to eat leavened bread, nor so much as 
to have any in their houses, upon pain of being cut off 
from Israel^', does perfectly demonstrate that he used 
that which was unleavened. But this perhaps was only 
upon the account of the Passo ^er, when no other but 
unleavened Bread could be used by the Jews. After 



he then godly disposed thereunto, shall likewise receive the 
Communion, And by this means the Minister, having always 
some to communicate with him, may accordingly solemnize so 
high and holy mysteries, ivith all the suffrages and due order 
appointed for the same. And the Priest on the week-days shall 
forbear to celebrate the Communion, except he have some thai 
will communicate with him. 

32 Matt, xxul 20. 33 Exod. xii. 1$. 19, 



3d4 Of the Order for the Admvnistraiioh 

Chap. VI. his Resurrection he probably celebrated (if he celebra 
"~" ted at all) in leavened Bread, and such as was in com° 
mon use at all other times, except the time of the Pass- 
over. And that the primitive Church always used com- 
mon Bread, appears, in that the elements for the holy 
Eucharist were always taken out of the people's obla- 
tions of Bread and Wine, which doubtless were such as 
they themselves used upon other occasions. But when 
these oblations began to be left off about the eleventh or 
twelfth century, the Clergy were forced to provide the 
Elements themselves ; and they, under pretence of de- 
cency and respect, brought it from leavened to unleavened^ 
and from a loaf of common Bread, that might be brok- 
en, to a nice Wafer, formed in the figure of a Denarius^ 
or penny, to represent, as some imagine, the thirty 
pence for which our Saviour was sold. And then also 
the people, instead of offering a loaf, as formerly, were 
ordered to offer a penny ; which was either to be giveii 
to the poor, or to be expended upon something belong- 
ing to the sacrifice of the Altar^'*. However, this abuse 
was complained of by some discerning and judicious 
men, as soon as it began. But when once introduced, 
it was so generally approved, that it was not easy to lay 
it aside. For even after the Reformation, King Ed- 
ward's first book enjoins these unleavened Wafers to be 
used, though with a little alteration indeed in relation to 
their size. The whole rubric, as it stood then, runs 
thus : For avoiding all matters and occasion of dissension, 
it is meet that the Bread prepared for the Communion be 
made^ through all this Realm, after one sort and fashion ; 
that is to say, unleavened and round, as it was afore, but 
Tvithout all manner of print, and something more large and 
thicker than it was, so that it may be aptly divided in divers 
pieces : and every one shall be divided in two pieces at the 
least, or more, by the discretion of the Minister, and so dis- 
tributed. And men must not think less to be received in 
part than in the whole, but in each of them the whole body of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, 

The Bread, I suppose, was ordered to he round, in 
imitation of the Wafers that had been used both in the 
Greek and Roman Church ever since the eleventh cen- 

34 See all these parlicnlars Bingham's Antiquities,!. 15. c 2. 
proved in Bona de Rebus Litur- {. 5, 6. 
gicis, 1. 1, c. 2S, {. 11. and in Mr. 



o/ the Ldrd^s Supper, or Holy Communion, oAb 

turj'^^: upon which were stamped the figure either of a Sec. XXX 
Crucilix, or the Holy Lamb. But in the rubric above, — 
it is ordered to be made without all manner of print, and 
something more large and thicker than it was ; the custom 
before being to make it small^ about the size of a penny, 
to represent, as some imagine, the thirty pence for which 
our Lord was sold^^ These superstitions the Reforma- 
tion had laid aside ; but the rubric above mentioned 
still affording matter for scruple, it was altered at the 
review in the hfih of King Edward, when, in his second 
book, this rubric was inserted in the room of it : Jlnd 
to take aioay th& superstition which any person hath, or might 
have^ in the Bread and Wine, it shall suffice that the Bread be. 
such as is usually to be eaten at the table with other meats^ 
but the best and purest wheat-bread that conveniently may 
be gotten. And the same rubric, w^ith some little differ- 
ence, is still continued, in our present Liturgy. Though, 
"by the injunctions of Queen Elizabeth, Wafer-Bread Wafer- 
seems to have been again enjoined: for among some ?!"^^'| f^"* 
orders, at the end of those injunctions, this was ^ne : :^Jjg^j, £,'j. 
Where also it was in the time of King Edward the Sixth zabeth. 
used to have the Sacramental Bread of common fine Bread ; 
it is ordered, for the more reverence to be given to these holy 
Mysteries, being the Sacraments of the. Body and Blood of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, that the said Sacramental Bread be 
made and formed plain, without any figure thereupon, of tht 
same fineness and fashion, round, though somewhat bigger in 
compass and thickness, as the usual Bread and Wafer, hereto- 
fore named Singing-Cakes, which served for the use of private 
Mass^'^. Though Bishop Cosin observes upon our pre- 
sent rubric, that *' It is not here commanded that no un- 
" leavened or Wafer-Bread be used ; but it is only said, 
" that the other Bread may sufjice. So that though 
" there was no necessity, yet there was a liberty still 
'* reserved ot using Wafer-Bread, which was used in di- 
" verse churches of the kingdom, and Westminster for 
"one, till the seventeenth of King Charles^." For i^TKlalfow- 
which reason perhaps, though the Scotch Liturgy con- ed by the 
tinues the rubric that was first inserted in the fifth year f^j^J"^*' ^'"'" 
of King Edward ; yet a parenthasis is inserted to show "^°^' 

35 Bertoldus ConstantieBsis de Bingham, J. 15. c. 2. h 5. 
Ordine Romano, Durand, Ration- 37 See Bishop Sparrow 's Col- 

al. ]. 4. c. 30. n. 8. lection, page 84, 85- 

aS Honorii Gemma Anima?, 1. 38 See Dr. Nichols'^s addltioB^ 

1. c. 66. apud Boaam, and in Notes, page 54, 



346 Of the Order for the Adminislralion 

Chap. VI. that the use of Wafer-Bread is lawful ; (though it he law* 

ful to have Wafer- Bread) it shall suffice^ and so on, as in 

the rubric of our own Liturgy, 
Rubric 6; §. 6. Another thing about which there might be dis- 
The re- ^ sension, is, how the Elements that remain should be dis- 
the^le-°' P^s^^ of afterwards, and therefore it is provided by an- 
ments how Other rubric, that ?/ any of the Bread and Wine remain 
to be (lis- undonseerated, the Curate shall have it to his ovm use*. For 
pofed of. though it hath not been actually consecrated, yet by its 
being dedicated and offered to God, it ceases to be com- 
mon, and therefore properly belongs to the Minister as 
God's Steward. 

But if any remain of that which was consecrated, it shall 
not be carried out of the Churchy hut the Priest^ and such 
other of the communicants^ as he shall then call unto him, 
shall^ immediately after the Blessings reverently eat and 
drink the same% In the primitive Church whatever of 
the consecrated Elements were left after all had commu- 
nicated, were either reserved by the Priest to be admin- 
istered to infirm persons in cases of exigency, that they 
might not die without receiving the blessed Sacrament^® ; 
or else were sent about to absent friends, as pledges and 
^kens of love and agreement in the unity of the same 
faith^°e But this custom being abused, was afterwards 
prohibited by the Council of Laodicea'^S and then the re- 
remains began to be divided among the Clergy''^ ; and 
sometimes the other Communicants were allowed to par- 
take with them^^, as is now usual in our Church, where 
care is taken to prevent the superstitious reservation of 
them formerly practised by the Papists. However, it 
would be convenient if the Scotch rubric were obser- 
ved, by w^hich, to the end there may be little left^ he that 
officiates is required to consecrate with the least. 



* First adde^in King Edward's second Book. 
t Added first to the Scotch Liturgy, and then to our owa 
at the last review. 



59 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6. c. 41 Can, 14. torn. i. col. 150. A. 

44. p. 246. C. Excerpt. Egbert. 42 Const. Apost. 1. 8. c. 31. 

22. Ccncil. torn. vi. col. 1588. 43 Theopbil. Alex. Can. 7. ap. 

40 .Tust. Mart. Apol. 1. cap, 85. Bevereg. Pandect. Canon. Apost. 

p. 12r, 128. Euseb. Hist, Eccles. &c. torn. ii. p. 672. F. 
1. 5. c. 21. p 1^3. B. 



of the Lord's Sapper , or Holy Gommunion, 347 

§. 7. The seventh rubric is a direction how the Bread Sec. XXX. 

and Wine shall be provided. How they were provided, ; 

in the primitive Church 1 have already showed. Af- !J[Jeg^eak 
terwards it seems it was the custom for every house in a„d wine 
jthe parish to provide in their turns the holy ./^oa/J (un- how to be 
^er ivhich name I suppose were comprehended both the provided. 
Elements of iJread and Wine ;) and the good Man and 
good Woman that provided were particularly remember- 
ed in the prayers of the Church'**. But by the first book of 
King Edward, the care of providing was thrown up- 
on the Pastors and Curates, who were obliged contimi- 
ually to find, at their costs and charges in their cures, suffi- 
cient Bread and Wine for the holy Communion, as oft as 
their Parishoners should he disposed for their spiritual com- 
fort to receive the same. But then it was ordered, that, in 
'recompence of such costs and charges, the Parishoners ofeV' 
try parish should offer every Sunday, at the time of the offertory^ 
the just value and price of the holy Loaf, {with all such money 
and other things as were wont to be offered with the same,) to the 
use of the Pastors and Curates, and that in such order and 
course as they were wont to find, and pay the said holy Loaf » 
And in Chapels arinexed, where the people had not been ac^ 
customed to pay any holy Bread ; there they were either to. 
make some charitable provision for the hearing of the char- 
ges of the Communion j or else (for receiving of the same) 
resort to the Parish Church, But now, since, from this 
method of providing, several unforeseen inconveniences 
might, and most probably did, arise, either from the neg- 
ligence or obstinacy, or poverty of the parishoners ; it 
was therefore afterwards ordered, that the Bread and 
Wine for the Communion, shoidd he provided by the Curate 
and the Churchrwardens, at the charges of the Parish ; and 
that the Parish should be discharged of such sums of money, 
or other duties which hitherto they have paid for the same, 
by order of their houses every Sunday. And this is the 
method the Church still uses ; the former part of this 
rubric being continued in our present Communion-office^ 
though the latter part was left out, as having reference 
to a custom which had for a long while been forgotten. 

§. 8. The next rubric, as far as it concerns the duty Rubric 8. 
of communicating, has already been taken notice of. Ecclesias- 
But the chief design of it is to settle the payment of Ec- ^jef ^^"j" 
clesiastical Duties. For it is hereby ordered, thdityearly and when 
et Easter every Parishoner shall reckon with his Parson, to be paid. 

44 See L'Estrange's Alliance, p. 172. 



34S Of the Order for the Administration 

Chap. Vf. Vicar, or Curate, or his or their deputy or deputies, and 
'^- ^ pay to ihem or him all Ecclesiastical Duties, accustomaUy 
due, and then at that time to be paid*. What are the Du- 
ties here mentioned is a matterof doubt : Bishop Stilling- 
ileet supposes them to be a composition for Personal Tithes, 
{i. c. the tenth part of every one's clear gains,) due at that 
time'*^ : but the present Bishop of Lincoln imagines tbem 
to be partly such Duties or Oblations, as were not im- 
mediately annexed to any particular oflice : and partly 
a composition for the Holy Loaf, which the Communi- 
cants were to bring and offer, and which is therefore to 
be answered at Easter, because at that festival every 
person was, even by the rubric, bound to communi- 
cate"^. They both perhaps may have judged right : for 
by an Act of Parliament in the second and third of Ed- 
ward VI. such personal tithes are to be paid yearly at or 
before the feast of Easter, and also all lawful and accus- 
tomary offerings, v^hich had not been paid at the usual offer- 
ing-days'^'^, are to be paid for at Easter next following. 



* The rubric in King Edward's first book was this : Fur- 
thermore, every man and woman to be bound to hear and be 
at the Divine Service in the Parish Church where they rnay be 
resident, and there with devout prayer, or godly silence and 
meditation, to occupy themselves : there to pay their duties, to 
communicate once in the year at the least ; and there to receive 
and take all other Sacr&ments and Rites in this book appointed . 
Jlnd whosoever willingly upon no just cause doth absent them- 
selves, or doth ungodly in the Farish Church occupy them- 
selves ; upon proof thereof by the ecclesiastical laws of the 
realm to be excommunicated^ or suffer other punishment, as 
shall to the ecclesiastical judge (according to his discretion) 
seem convenient, in all the other old books it began thus : 
And note, every parishoner shall communicate at the least three, 
times in the year, of which Easier to be one ; and shall also 
receive the Sacraments and other Rites according to the order 
in this book appointed. The word Sacraments I suppose is 
used here in a large sense, for the other ordinances of Con- 
■firmation. Matrimony, S^c. which were all called Sacramento 
before, and for sometime after, the Reformation. 



45 Bishop Stillingfleel's Eccle- snntide, and the feast of the dedi- 
sia<;tical Cases, page 252. cation of the parish-chnrch : but 

46 Bishop Gibson's Codex, vol. by an act of Hen. VIII. A. D. 
ii. pasfc 740. 1536, they were changed to Chri't- 

47 The uf^iTal offerin(;-days at mas, Easter, Midsummer, and Mi- 
^i.-at w crc Chriifmas, Easter, Whit- chaelmas. 



of the Lord^s Supper, or Holy Communion. 549 

§. 0. The last rubric is concerning the disposal of the Sec.XX:^i. 

money given at the Communion, and was not added till 

the last review : but to prevent all occasion of disaerree- ^^^^. ™°"" 
ment, it was then ordered, that after the divine service en- theOffer- 
ded^ the money given at the offertory shall be disposed of to tory. how 
such pious and charitable uses, as the Minister and Church^ *° be dis--, 
wardens sliall think ft ; -wherein if they disagree, it shall be ^°^ 
disposed of as the Ordinary shall appoiiit. The hint was 
taken from the Scotch Liturgy, in which immediately 
after the blessing this rubric follows: After the divine 
jservice ended, that which was offered, shall be divided in the 
presence cf the Presbyter and the Church-wardens, whereof 
one half shall be to the use of the Presbyter, to provide 
hiin books of holy divinity ; the other half shall be faithful- 
ly kept and employed on some pious or charitable use, for 
the decent furnishing of that Church, or the public relief 
of their Poor, at the discretion of the Presbyter and 
Church-wardens, 

Sect. XXXI. Of the Protestation*. 

At the end of the whole office is added a ProtestatioQ Tbe Pro- 
concerning the gesture of kneeling at the Sacrament of testation, 
the Lord's Supper, and explaining the Church's notion 
of the presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the same. 
This was first added in the second book of king Edward, 
in order to disclaim any Adoration to be intended by 
that ceremony either unto the Sacramental Bread or Wine 
there bodily received, or unto any real and essential pre- 
sence there being, of Christ'^s natural Flesh and Blood, 
But upon Queen Elizabeth's accession this was laid aside. 
For it being the Queen's design (as I have already ob- 
sesved more than once) to unite the nation as much as 
she could in one faith ;' it was therefore recommended 
to the Divines, to see that there should be no definition 
made against the aforesaid notion, but that it should re- 
main as as speculative opinion not determined, but in 
which every one might be left to the freedom of his 
own mind. And being thus left out, it appears no more 
in any of our Common Prayers till the last review: at 
which time it was again added, with some little amend- 

♦This protestation has been omitted in the American Prayer-book, 
being considered as no longer necessary. — To suppose that kneeling 
implied an adoration of the Host, was the result of arbitrary associa- 
tion. Am. Ed. 



35© Of the Minis ttation 

Chap. VI, pient of the expression and transposal of the sentences j 

-*- but exactly the same throughout as to the sense ; ex- 

jcepting that the words real and essential Presence were 
thought proper to be changed for corporal Presence. 
For a real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in 
the Eucharist, is what our Church frequently asserts in 
this very office of Communion, in her Articles, in her 
Homilies, and her Catechism : particularly in the two 
latter, in the first of which she tells us, Thus much we 
must be sure to hold, that in the Supper of the Lord 
there is no vain ceremony, no bare sign, no untrue 
figure of a thing absent ; — but the Communion of the Bo- 
dy and Blood of the Lord in a marvelous incorporationy 
which by the operation of the Holy Ghost — is through 
Faith wrought in the souls of the faithful, <S^c/' who there- 
fore (as she farther instructs us in the Catechism') verily 
and indeed take and receive the Body and Blood of Christ 
in the Lord'^s Supper, This is the doctrine of our Church 
in relation to the real Presence in the Sacrament, entire- 
ly different from the doctrine of Transubslantiation, 
which she here, as well as elsewhere''^, disclaims : a doc^ 
trine which requires so many ridiculous absurdities and 
notorious contradictions to support it, that it is needless 
to offer any confutation of it, in a Church, which allows 
her members the use of their Senses, Reason, Scripture, 
and Antiquity. 



C HA P. VII. 

Of the Ministration 0/ PUBLIC BAPTISM 0/ 
INFANTS to he used in the Church, 

The Introduction. 

Having now gone through the constant offices of 
the Church, I come, in the next place, to those which 
are only to be used as there is occasion. And of these 
the office of Baptism, being the first that can regularly 
be administered, (as being the first good office that is 
done to us when we are born,) is therefore properly set 
first. In order to treat of which in the same method I 

48 First part of the Homily con- 49 Article XXVIll. and Homi- 
cerniDg the Sacrament. lies. 



of Public Baptism of Infants* 351 

have observed hitherto, it will be necessary, in the first I ntroduc. 
place, to saj something of the Sacrament itself. " 

§. 1. IFa/er therefore (which is the matter of it) hath ^jf^^^lJJ, 
so natural a property of cleansing, that it hath been ter used 
made the symbol of Purification by all nations, and used by all na- 
with that signification in the rites of all religions*^ TJie f^^^H *f 
heathens used divers kinds of Baptism to expiate their Purifica- 
c rimes"; and the Jews baptize such as are admitted tion. 
proselytes at large" ; and when any of those nations turn 
Jews, who are already circumcised, they receive them 
by Baptism only : with which ceremony also they pu- 
rified such heathen women as were taken in marriage 
by Jewish husbands. And this is that universal, plain, 
and easy rite, which our Lord Jesus adopted to be a 
mystery in his religion, and the Sacrament of Admis- 
sion into the Christian Church^^. 

§. 2. Nor can any thing better represent Regeneration How it ty- 
or JVew Birth, which our Saviour requires of us before jjg^^gjrdj. 
we can become Christians", than washing with Water, "" 
For as that is the first ofiice done unto us after our na- 
tural births, in order to cleanse us from the pollutions 
of the womb" ; so when we are admitted into the Church 
we are first baptized, (whereby the Holy Ghost cleans- 
es us from the pollutions of our sins, and renews us unto 
God**^,) and so become, as it were, spiritual infants, and 
enter in to a new life and being, which before we had 
not. For this reason, when the Jews baptized any of : 
their proselytes, they called it their J^ew Birth, Hegener- \ 
ation, or being born again". And therefore when our 
Saviour used this phrase to Nicodemus, he wondered 
that he, being a master in Israel, should not understand 
him. And even among the Greeks this was thought to 
have such virtue and efficacy, as to give new life as it 
were to those who were esteemed religiously dead. For 
if any one that was living was reported to be deceased, 
and had funeral solemnities performed upon his account ; 
he afterwards, upon his return, abominated of all men, as 
a person unlucky and profane, banished and excluded 

50 Ti tS'ct^ xyvi^u. Plut. Qusest. lism, Introduction, ^. 1, 2. 
Rom. 53 Matt, xxiii. 19. 

51 Tert. de Bapt. c. 5. p. 225. 54 John iii. 3-7. 
D. & 226. A. 65 Ezek. xvi. 4. 

52 See this proved in Bp. 56 Tit. iii. 5. 

Hooper'a Discourae on Lent, 57 See Dr. Wall on Infant-Bap. 

part u. chap. 2. i, 2. page 159. tiim, IntroducUon, i, a, 
ani m Dr. Wall on Infant-Bap- 



362 Of the Minis tratioii 

Chap.vri. from all human conversation, and not so much as ad- 

miUed to be present in the temples, or at the sacrifices 

of their gods, till he was born again, as it were, by be- 
ing washed like a child from the womb : a custom found- 
ed upon the direction of the oracle at Delphos. For one 
Aristinus falling under this misfortune, and consulting 
Apollo to know how he might be freed from it, his 
priestess Pythia returned him this answer : 

Otfx Trip €V Xs^eeo-Ti yvvi) rUrovra reXslrcii, 
TctZrct 'XuXi^ reXso'oivTtz S-usiv fJCccKu^stra-i ©eaiTt, 

What zoomen do, when one in childbed lies, 
That do again ; so may^st thou sacrifice, 

Aristinus rightly apprehending what the oracle meant, 
offered himself to women as one newly brought forth, to 
be washed again with water. And from this example it 
grew a custom among the Greeks, when the like cala- 
mity befel any man, to expiate and purify him after this 
manner". And thus in the Christian Church, by our 
Saviour's institution and appointment, those who are 
dead to God through sin, are born again by the washing 
of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost''*, And 
how proper (by- the way) Water is to typify the Holy 
Ghost, may be seen by consulting several texts of Scrip- 
ture where Water and the Blessed Spirit are mentioned 
as corresponding one to another^^ 

That the primitive Christians had this notion of Bap- 
tism, I think may very fairly be asserted from those oth- 
er rites which they anciently used in the celebration of 
this mystery: such as were the giving the new-baptized 
Milk and Honey, and Salt, which were all given to In- 
fants new born^^ ; and the putting upon them zohite Gar- 
ments, to resemble the swaddling spoken of by EzekieP. 
Milk, Ho- All these, the ancient fathers tell us, were done to sig- 
ney, and ^\fy .^^^^ represent spiritual Birth and Infancy, and out 
whUe^Gar- ^f reference to what was done at the natural birth of 
ments, an- children'^^ And therefore who can doubt but that the 
ciently principal rite of washing with Water (and the only one 
th^^" ^°- indeed ordained by our blessed Saviour) was chosen by 
baptized, him for this same reason, to be the Sacrament of our 
For what initation ; and that those who brought in the other rites 



reason. 



58 Plutarch. Quaeest. Romanae. 62 Ezek. xvi. 6. 

59 Tit. iii. 5. 63 Barnabas c. 6. Tertu]. de 

60 Isa. xliv. 3. John iv. 14. Bapt. c. 6. et contra Marcion. J. 
^ohn vii. 37, 38, 39. i. c 14. Hieron. adv. Luciferia- 

61. Isa. vii. 15. Ezek. xvi. 4. nos. Cjril. Catech. Mjstag. 4. 



of Public Baptism of Infants. 353 

Above meniioned, did so conceive of it, and for that rea- Introduc 
son took in those imitations ? In some churches indeed 



they have now for a long time been discontinued, for ^^J^^g^ 
they being only used as emblems to signify that the per- 
sons were become as new-born babes, they were left off 
at such times, when, whole nations becoming Christians, 
there were hardly any other Baptism than of babes in a 
proper sense, who needed no such representations tQ 
signify their infancy. 

§. 3. As to the form of Baptism, our Saviour only in- '''^^ ^°r™ 
stituted the essential parts of it, viz. that it should be *^ 
performed by a propei* Minister, with fVater, in the name 
of the Father^ 5on, and Holy Ghost^*. Jiiit as for the rites 
and circumstances of the administration of it, he left 
them to the determination of the Apostles and the 
Church. Yet without doubt a form of Baptism was 
very early agreed upon, because almost all Churches 
in the world do administer it much after the same man- 
ner. The latter ages indeed had made some superflu- 
ous additions ; but our Reformers removed them, and 
restored this office to a nearer resemblance of the an- 
cient model, than any other Church can show. We 
have now three several offices in our Liturgy, viz. one 
for Public Baptism of Infants in the Church, another for 
Private Baptism of Children in Houses^ and a third for 
such as are of Riper Years, and able to answer for ihem^ 
selves. 

The first is what is now most commonly used : for 
there being but very few adult persons, who now come 
over to the Church, Infants are generally the persons 
that are baptized; and they being appointed to be 
brought to church, except in danger of death, the public 
form of Baptism is there ordered to be used. Of this 
therefore I propose to treat in order at large, and only 
to take notice of those particulars in the others which 
differ from this* 

§. 4. And the office we are now upon being appointed Infant 
for Infants, it will be proper to premise a few general ?*P*j*^ 
hints in relation to baptizing them. For that reason I*'"^ 
shall here observe, that as baptism was appointed for 
the same end that Circumcision was, and did succeed in 
the place of it ; it is resonable it should be administered 
to the same kinds of persons. For since God comman- 

64 Matt, xxviii. 19. 

U V 



354 Of tilt Ministration 

Chap. VII. (]e(j Infants to be circumcised**, it is not to be doubted 
' but that he would also have them to be baptized. Nor 

is it necessary that Christ should particularly mention 
Children in his commission*^® ; it is sufficient that he did 
not except them: for that supposeth he intended no al- 
teration in this particular, but that Children should be 
initiated into the Christian as well as into the Jewish 
religion. And indeed if we consider the custom of the 
Jews at that time, it is impossible but that the Apostles, 
to whom he delivered his commission, must necessarily 
. understand him as speaking of Children, as well as of 

grown or adult persons. For it is well known that the 
A custom Jews baptized, as well as circumcised, all proselytes of 
among the |_j^g nations or Gentiles, that were converted to their re- 
baptize In- ligion. And if any of those converts had infant children 
fants. ttien born to them, they also were, at their father's desire, 
both circumcised and baptized, if males ; or if females, 
only baptized, and so admitted as proselytes. The 
child's inability to declare or promise for himself was not 
looked upon as a bar against his reception into the cov- 
enant: but the desire of the father to dedicate him to 
God, was accounted available and sufficient to justify 
his admission*. Nor does the ceremony of Baptism ap- 
pear to have been used amongst the Jews upon such ex- 
traordinary occasions only ; but it seems rather to have 
been an ordinary rite constantly administered by them, 
as well to their own, as to the children of proselytes ; 
for the Mishna prescribes the solemn Washing, as well 
as the Circumcision of the child, which I know not how 
to interpret, if it is not to be understood of a Baptismal 
Washing^^ 
No altera- This therefore being the constant practice of the Jews, 

tion in that 

respect in- — 

tended by 

our Sa- * This is only to be understood of such Children as were 

viour. i>orn before their Parents themselves were baptized : for 

. all the Children that were born to them afterwards, they 

reckoned were clean by their birth, as being born of parents 

' that were cleansed from the polluted state of hethenism, and 

' were in the covenant of Abraham, and so natural Jews*^. 



65 Gen. xvii. 12. Wall's Introduction to his Hisfo- 

66 Matt, xxviii. 18. ry of Infant-Baptism. 

67 See thi^, and what is said 68 Misna de Sabbato, c. 19- i, 
above, proved at large in Dr. 19. V'ide et R. Obadiah de Bar- 

tenora, et Maimon. in Iocum» 



of Public Baptism of Infants* 355 

and our Saviour in his commission making no exception, introduc. 
but bidding his Apostles go and disciple all nations, bap- - ' 

tiling them, &c. 1 think that is a sufficient argument to 
prove, that he intended no alteration in the objects of 
Baptism, but only to exalt the action of baptizing to a 
nobler purpose, and a larger use. For when a commis- 
sion is given in so few words, and there is no express 
direction what thej should do with the Infants of those 
who become disciples ; the natural and obvious inter- 
pretation is, that they must do in that matter as they 
and the Church in which they lived had always used 
to do. And we may assure ourselves, that had the 
Apostles left children out of the covenant, and not re- 
ceived them as members of the Church ; the Jews, who 
took such care that their children should not want their 
own Sacrament of initiation, would certainly have urged 
this as a great objection against the Christian religion. 
But we do not read of any such objection ever made, 
and therefore we may depend upon it, that the Apostles 
^ave them no room for it. 

It is true indeed, it has been often objected to us, that J^^ '^' 
the Scriptures make no express mention of the Baptism ^^^^ j^g^. 
of Infants ; to which we might reply, were the objection Testament 
true, that neither do the Scriptures make any express "o »>■&«- 
mention of the alteration of the Sabbath : and yet I be- ^^^^^i 
lieve there are but few of those who are of a different infaDt- 
opinion from us, in the point before us, but who think Baptism, 
the observation of the first day of the week is sufficient- 
ly authorized from the New Testament : and yet this 
is not more clearly implied than the other. We read 
in several places of whole households bdng baptized^^, 
without any exception of their Infants or Children. 
Now it is very unlikely that there should be so many 
households without children ; and therefore, since none 
such are excepted, we may conclude that they were 
baptized as well as the rest of the family : only the 
Baptism of adult persons being more for the honour of 
the Christian religion, the holy writers chose only to, 
name the chief persons baptized, thinking it sufficient to J^^ =^" 
include their children and servants under the general (bg^New 
terms of all theirs, or their households. And what makes Testament 
it still more probable that children were really included makes as 
in these terms, is that the Scriptures no where mention ™"*|n8t the 
the deferring the Baptism of any Christian's child, or Antipsdo- 

baptists as 
69 Acts xvu 35, 33. 1 Cor. i. 16. against us. 



356 Of the Ministration 

Chap. VII. the putting it off till he came to years of discretion. 
An argument that surely may as justly be urged agains? 
the adversaries to Infant-Baptism, as the silence of the 
Scriptures is against us. 
Infant- But it seems this objection of the silence of the Scrip- 

Baptisna tures is not true. For the learned Dr. Wall has suffici- 
fro'm^lie ^ntly rescued a passage in the New Testament from the 
New Tee- g^^ss of the moderns; and showed, both by comparing 
tament. it with Other tej^ts in Scripture, and from the interpreta- 
tion of the ancients, that it cannot fairly be understood 
in any other sense than of the Baptjstm of Infants. 
The passage I mean is a text in St. Paul's first Epistle 
to the Corinthians^^, Else, were yor^r children unclean^ hut 
now they are, holy: on which he shows from several pla- 
ces of the Old Testament^\ (i. e. iVom the original texts, 
and the interpretation given of them by the learned 
Jews,) that to sanctify^ or make holy^ was a common ex- 
pression among the Jews for baptizing or washing'^. It 
is also plain from the New Testament, that the same 
expression is twice used by this same Apostle in this 
same sense, viz. once in the Epistle from whence this 
text is taken", and once again in his Epistle to the Ephe- 
sians^'*. He also refers to a learned anthor to show, 
that it was a common phrase with the ancients, to say- 
that an infant or other person was sanctified or made 
holy^ when they meant that he was baptized^*. Some 
instances of which he also gives himself, as they come 
in his way upon other occasions^^. And it is certain, 
that this sense of this place in St. Paul very much illus- 
trates what gO'es before. The Apostle was directing, 
that if uny man or woman had a husband or wife that 
did not believe, they should not separate or part, if the 
unbelieving person was still willing to cohabit ; the rea- 
son of which he says is, htQ2iUse i\xe unbdieveing hiishand 
is sanctified^ or, (as it is in the Greek, and as all com- 
mentators agree it should be translated,) an unbelieving 
husband has been sanctified by the wife ; i. e. it has often 
come to pass, that an unbelieving husband has been 

70 ClKip. -nu 14. 75 Mr. Walker^s Modest Plea 

71 Exod. xix. 10. Levit. vi. 27. for Infant-Baptism, chap. 29. 

2 Sam. xi. 4. 76 Dr. Wall, ut supra, and 

72 Ur. Wall's History of In- chao. 15. ?. 2- chap. 18. f . 4. and 
fant-Baptism, part i. chap. 11. ♦. chap. 19. }. 19. See also his De- 
XI. fence of his History against Mr. 

7Z 1 Cor. vi. 11. Gale, page 363, fcc 

74 Epb. T. 26. 



of Public Baptism of Infants, 357 

i^rought to the faith, and so to Baptism, by his wife ; In(rodnc, 

and an unbelieving wife has^ in the same sense, been sanC' 

tified by her husband. As proof of which he observes in 
the close, Else ivovld your children be unclean^ but now 
Ihey are holy ; i. e. if it were not so, or if the wickedness 
or infidelity of the unbelieving part did usually prevail, 
the children of such would generally be kept unbapti- 
zed, and so be unclean : but now, by the grace of God, 
we see a contrary effect ; for they are generally bapti- 
zed, and so become sanctified or holy. This exposition 
(as Dr. Wall observes) is so much the more probable, 
because there has been no other sense of those words 
yet given by expositors, but what is liable to much dis- 
pute : and that sense especially, which is given by our 
iadversaries, {viz, of Legitimacy in opposition to Bastar- 
dy,) seems the most forced and farfetched of all. 

But though we could not be able to produce from Infant- 
Scripture any express mention of the Baptism of Infants ; Baptism 
yet when we descend to the writers of the next succeed- from the 
ing ages, we have all their testimonies unanimous on our writings of 
side. And surely they must be allowed to be compe- ^he most 
tent witnesses of what was done by the Apostles them- ^l^^^^ 
selves. They could tell whether themselves or their 
fathers were baptized in their infancy, or whether it was 
the Apostles' doctrine or advice to stay till they were 
grown up to years of maturity. But now in none of these 
do we meet with any thing that favours the opinion of our 
adversaries, but almost in all of them a direct confuta- 
tion of their errors. In some of them we have express 
and direct mention of the practice of the Church in bap- 
tizing Infants ; and even in those in whose way it does 
not come to say any thing as to the age when Baptism 
should be administered, we have frequent sentences from 
whence it may be inferred by way of implication. St. 
Clement, in the Apostles' times, speaks of Original Sin 
as affecting Infants?^ : if so, then Baptism is necessary 
to wash it away. Justin Martyr affirms, that Baptism is 
to us in the stead of Circumcision^^ ; from whence we 
may fairly conclude, that it ought to be administered to 
the same kinds of persons. In another place^^ he men- 
tions several persons, who were discipled (or made disci- 
ples) to Christ, whilst children : which plainly intimates, 

77 Clem. Rom. Eph. i. ad Cor. Edit. Steph. 

f • ^^"- 79 Just. Mart. Apol. 1. propc 

78 Dialog, cum Tryph. p. 59. ab initio. 



3i8 Of the Ministration 

Chap. \ II. that children may be made disciples and consequently 
" may be baptized. For the only objection of the Anli- 
paedobaptists against Infant-Baptism, is their incapacity 
of being made disciples. Now here they may perceive 
that if Justin rightly understood the word, children may 
be disciples. And it is worth observing, that the per- 
sons he here speaks of are said to be sixty and sevnty 
years old: and therefore if they were discipled and bap- 
tized when children, it follows they must be baptized 
even in the days of the Apostles. But to proceed : Ire- 
naeus, who lived but a little after Justin, reckons Infants 
among those who were born again to God^^. A phrase, 
which in most ecclesiastical writers, and especially in 
Irenaeus, is generally used to signify that Regeneration^ 
which is the effect of Baptism^^ And that this must be 
the sense of the word here, is plain, because Infants are 
not capable of being born again in any other sense. 
Tertullian again, a few years after him, speaks of Infant- 
Baptism as the general practice of his time ; though by 
the heretical notions which it is probable he had then 
imbibed, he thought the deferring of it was more profit- 
abie^^ In the next century, Origeii, in several places, 
expressly assures us that Irifants were baptized by the usage 
of the Church^^. And lastly, about the year 250, (which 
was but 150 years after the Apostles,) St. Cyprian, 
with sixty^six Bishops in council with him, declared 
all unanimously, that none were to be hindered from 
Baptism and the Grace of God : '^ Which rule,"saith he, 
*' as it holds for all, so we think it more especially to be 
^' observed in reference to Infants, and persons newly 
^' born^^*." The same might be shown from all the 



* This consultation was held, not to decide whether In- 
fants were to be baptized, (that they took for granted ;) but 
whether they might regularly be baptized before the eighth 
day. Upon which the resolution of the whole council was 
formed, that Baptism is to be denied to none that is born. 



80 Omnes enina venit per sem- Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Bap- 
etipsum salvare": omnes inquam tism, part i. chap. 3. 

QUI per euro renascuntor in Deum; 82 Tertul. de Bapt. c. 18. 

Infantes et Parvnlo?, et Pueros, et 83 Orig. Horn. 8. in Lev. xii. 

Jiivenes, et Seniores. IrenpRUsadv. xiii. part. i. p. 90. Horn. 14. in 

Hwre5. 1. 2. c. 39. Luc. ii. part, ii. p. 142, L. 

81 See this proved at larg-e in 84 Cypr. Ep. 64. p. 158. 



oj Pxihlic Baptism of Infanls. 359 

other fathers of the three first centuries, who all speak Sec L 

ot It as a doctrine, settled and established from the be- - 

ginning ot (.hristianitj, without once questioning or op- 
posing It; which certainly they would have done m 
some or other of their works, had they known it to have 
ortL^A^Tsd?^'''"' contrary to the doctrine or practice 

rnl^n^ ' ^r^ ^^'■f^^'^ ^^^"^ ^^^ ^^"^ "Pon a single parti- 
cular, and must therefore refer the more inquisitive rea- 
der to the learned labours of an eminent divine«^ who 

oMhetnS ChVrcr ' '° ''^ ^"'^^^"'°" ^"'^ ''°-- 
Sect. I. Of the Rubrics before the Office. 

■ iTappeareth by ancient writers, (as was expressed in Rubric i 
he rubric t.ll the last review,) timt the Sacrament of Bap. Baptil 
tisrmn the old time was not commonly ministered hut at '""""^y 
two, times in the year, at Easter and at Whitsuntide: at Sf;,, 

S cr'R^",'""'"'''«"'' sf ^'"■'^''^ Resurrection. oUtvLt' 
which Baptism is a figure'"; and at Whitsuntide, in re- «'<1 Whit- 
membrance of the three thousand souls baptized by the '"'"''^'• 
Apostles at that time". For this reason in the Western 
Church, all that were bom after Easter were kept until 
Whitsunday; and all that were born after Whitsunday 
rnL'"T!;^'^u"u'"^^'^^''^'"= ""1^=^ some imminent 
fnri 4k^^'k ^^''f"^'' ^^^ administration of it be- 
lore Though in the Eastern Church, the feast of 
tp.phany was also assigned for the administration of this 
Sacrament, m memory of our Saviour's being, as it is 
supposed, baptized upon that day-- And about the 
eighth or ninth century, the time for solemn Baptism 

hlTi^'^i T'" '" *^ ^«'i" Church, all churches 
being moved by reason of the thing, to administer Ba- 
ptism (as at first) at all times of the year». 

out of use and (as the old rubric goes on) cannot for ? ^", ^^'^ 
good lojollow the same, as near as conveniently mov 6e. "P"" Sua- 
And therefore our present rubric still orderf, that rte h'„X,V 

86 Rom. li 4 ^* ^'^S- Naz. O.at. 40. vol. i. 

87 Acbii. 41 rt/«- 1^ 

«8 Be„„» Re„.„us. in Ter.u,,. oU^/o" ^5^0 ^iTC ^^Lnf " 



360 



Of the JMiiiist ration 



Chap. VU. 



Except in 
cases of 
necessity. 



The irre- 
gularity 
and scan- 
dal of ad- 
minister- 
ing Bap- 
tism at 
home. 



people he admonished^ that it is most convenient that Bap- 
tism should not he administered but upon Sundays and oth- 
er holy-days^ "when the most number of people come together : 
as zoell for that the congregation there present may testify 
the receiving of them that be newly baptized into the number 
of ChrisCs church ; as also because in the Baptism of In- 
fants every man present may be put in remembrance of his 
own profession made to God in his Baptism, For this cause 
also, it is farther declared expedient, that Baptism be ad- 
ministered in the vulgar tongue. Nevertheless {if necessity 
so require) children may be baptized upon any other day, or 
(as it was worded in the old Common Prayers) children 
may at all times he baptized at home, or lastly, as it was 
expressed in the first book of King Edward, either at 
church or else at home, 

§. 2. But then it is to be observed, that if the occasion 
be so urgent as to require Baptism at home, the Church 
has provided a particular office for the administration of 
it ; which directs, that the essential parts of the Sacra- 
ment be administered immediately in private ; but de- 
fers the performance of the other solemnities till the 
child can be brought into the church. As to the office 
we are now upon, it is by no means to be used in any 
place but the church. It is ordered to be said at the font, 
in the middle of the Morning or Evening Prayer, and 
all along supposes a congregation to be present ; and 
particularly in one of the addresses which the Priest is 
to use, it is very absurd for him to tell the godfathers 
and godmothers in a chamber , that they have brought the 
child thither to be baptized, when he himself is brought thith^ 
er to baptize it. It is still more absurd for him in such a 
place to use that expression. Grant that whosoever is here 
dedicated to thee by our office and ministry, &lc. For he 
knows that the word here cannot be applicable lo the place 
he is in : nor yet has he any authority to omit or alter 
the form. 

If we look back into the practice of the primitive 
Church, we shall find that the place where this solemn 
act was performed was at first indeed unlimited : In any 
place where there was water, as Justin MartjT tells us^^ ; in 
ponds or lakes, in springs or rivers, as Tertullian speaks^' ; 
but always as near as might be to the place of their 
public assemblies. For it was never (except upon ex- 
traordinary occasions) done without the presence of the 
congregation. A rule the primitive Christians so zeal- 



ot Apol. i. c 79. p. 516. Im. 3. 9. 92 De Bapt. c. 4. p. 225. C. 



0/ Public Baptism of Infants. 361 

> 
ously kept lo, that the TruUan council does not allow Sec. \: 
this holy Sacrament to be administered even in Chapels-' " ^ 
that were appropriate or private, but only in the Public 
or Parish Churches; punishing the persons offending, 
if Clersfy, with Deposition ; if Laity, with Excommuni- 
catio^^^ 

In our own Church indeed, since our unhappy confu- 
sions, this office hath been very frequently made use of 
m 'private; and some Ministers have thought themselves, 
to prevent the greater mischief of separation, necessitated 
to comply with the obstinacy of the greater and more 
powerful of their parishioners ; who, for their ease or 
humour, or for the convenience of a more splendid and 
pompous christening, resolving to have their children 
baptized at home, if their own Minister refuse it, will get 
Some other to do it. 

But such persons ought calmly to consider how ddn- 
trary to reason and the plain design of the institution of 
this Sacrament, this perverse custom, and their obstinate 
persisting in it, is. For what is the end of thijt sacred 
ordinance, but to initiate the person into the Church of 
Christ, and to entitle him to the privileges of it ? And 
where can there be a better i-epresentation of that soci- 
ety, than in a congregation assembled after the most 
solemn and conspicuous mariner for the worship of God, 
anJ for the testifying of their communion in it? Where 
can the profession be more properly made before such 
admission ; where the stipulation given, where the prom- 
ise to undertake the duties of a Christian, but in such an 
assembly of Christians ? How then can all this be done 
in coafdiiion and precipitance, without any timely notice 
or preparation, in private, in the corner of a Bed-Cham- 
ber,Parlour, or Kitchen, (where I have known it to be ad- 
ministered,) and there perhaps out of a Bason, or Pipkin^ 
a Tea-Cup, or a Punch Bowl, (as the excellent Dr; Wall 
with indignation observes^) and in the presence of only 
two or three, or scarce so many as may be csilled st 
congregation? The ordinance is certainly ^ufe/ic ; public 
in the nature and end of it, and therefore such ought 
the celebration of it to be; the neglect whereof is the 
less excusable, because it is so easily remedied. 

II. The next rubric (^hich was added at the last re- Kubricks, 
view) is concerning the Godfathers and GodmotherSo 'r*?« «"gi- 

nal and an- 

93 Can. 59. tom.Ti.coJ.1170. 94 See Dr. Wall against Mr. Godfither« 
A. Gale, page 405. and God- 

A X ffiothers. 



362. Of iht Ministration 

Chap. VII. The use of which in the Christian Church was derived 
""^"■^^ from the Jews, as well as the initiation of Infants itself^*. 
And it is by some believed that the wilnesses mentioned 
by Isaiah at the naming of his son^% were of the same na- 
ture with these sureties'^^ 

§. 2. In the primitive Church they were so early, that 
ihem^^^ ° it is not easy to fix the time of their bc^^inning. Some 
of the most ancient fathers make mention of them^^ and 
through all the successive ages afterwards we find the 
Use of them continued, without any scruple or interrup- 
tion, till the Anabaptists, and other Puritans of late 
years, raised some idle clamours against them. Some 
of these I shall have a properer place to speak to here- 
after. In the mean while I desire to ©bserve in general, . 
that since the laws of all nations (because Infants cannot 
speak for themselves) have allowed them guardians to 
contract for them in secular matters ; which contracts, if 
they be fair and beneficial, the Infants must make good 
when they come to age ; it cannot, one would think, be 
unreasonable for the Church to allov/ them spiritual 
guardians^ to promise those things in their name, with- 
11 !I*if out which they cannot obtain salvation. And this too, 

callfcd bur- , .•' . . , -^, , , , ' 

eties. Wit- at the same time, gives security to the Church, that the 
ne«sesand children shall not apostatize, from whence they are cal- 
Godfath- ]gj sureties ; provides monitors to every Christian, to re- 
' * mind them ot the vow which they made in their pre- 
sence, from whence they are called witnesses ; and bet- 
ter represents the New Birth, by giving the Infants new 
and spiritual relations, whence they are termed Godfa- 
thers and Godmothers. 
The num- §. 3. How long the Church has fixed the number of 
ber^f these sureties, I cannot tell : but by a constitution of 
Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236% and 
in a Synod held at Worcester, A. D. 1240^ I find the 
same provision made as is now required by our rubric, 
viz. That there should he for every Male Child that is to he 
baptized, txao Godfathers and one Godmother^ and for every 
Female one Godfather and tzoo Godmothers. 

95 See this proved in Dr. Light- 18. pag. 231. C. Fidejussores, Aii- 
foot, vol. ii. page 119. giistin. Serm. 168. in Append, ad 

96 Isaiah viii. 2. tom. v. col. 329. C. 

97 Vid. Jun. et Tremel, in Lo- 99 Bishop Gibson's Codex, vol. 
cum. i. page 439. 

9a n§o(r?2/)ovT«f, Just. Mart, ad I Synod. Wigorn. cap. 5. apud 

Orthodoxos. 'Ava^To;^©/, Dionys. Concil. per Labbe, tom. xi, par. 

A reap. Eocles. H:er. c. 2. p. 77. i. col. 575. C. 
B. C, Sponsores, Tert. de Bapt. c. 



them. 



of Public Baptism of Infants, 363 

§. 4. By the twenty-ninth canon of our Church, no Sec. r. 
Parent is to be admitted to answer as Godfather for Ms ~~ ~~ 
.^ own child^.* For the parents are already engaged un- goaUons^of 
der such strict bonds, both by nature and rehgion, to persons to 
take care of their children's education, that the Church be adrait- 
does not think she can lay them under greater : but still Jf^^^^^^^^" 
makes provision, that if, notwithstanding these obliga- Godmoth- 
tions, the parents should be negligent, or if it should ers, 
please God to take them to himself before their children 
be grown up ; there yet may be others, upon whom it 
shall lie to see that the children do not want due instrucr 
tions, by means of such carelessness, or death of their 
parents. And for a farther prevention of people's en- 
tering upon this charge, before they are capable of uh- 
derstanding the trust they take upon themselves, it is 
farther provided by the above-mentioned canon, that 
no person be admitted Godfather or Godmother, before the 
said person so undertaking hath received the holy commune 
ion, 

]ll. When there are children to be baptized^ the parents Rubrics^, 
shall give knowledge thereof over night, or in the morning, 
before the beginning of morning prayer, to the Curate, And 
then the Godfathers and Godmothers, and the people with 

the children, must be ready at the Font], so called, Fonts, why 
T 1 T> • xi 1 • • ?. so called., 

I suppose, because Baptism, at the beginning ot 
Christianity, was performed in springs or fountains. 
They were at first built near the Church, then in the 
church-porch, and afterwards (as it is now usual amongst 
us) placed in the Church itself, but still keeping the 
lower end, to intimate that Baptism is the entrance into 



t Must he ready at the church-door. So the first book of 
King Edward, which also orders in the last rubric at the 
end of the office, that if the number of children, to he baptized, 
and the multitude of people present be so great that they can- 
not conveniently stand at the church-door, then let them stand 
within ike church in some convenient place, nigh unto the 
church'door ; and there all things to be said and done appoin- 
ted to be said and done at the church-door. 

2 See also Queen Elizabeth's Bishop Sparrow's Collection, page 
Advertisements, A, D. 1563, in 125. 



♦In the Americaa Prayer-Book, the Rubric permits that "Parent's 
»hall be admitted as Sponsors^ if it be desired,"— .y??n. Ed. 



364 Of Ike Minislrah(x% 

U hap.VI T.the mystical Church.. In the primitive times we meet 
Wh ^ la- ^^^^^ ^^^^ large and capacious, not only that they 

ced^t^th^e °^'g^^ comport with the general customs of those time!>, 
lower end Viz. of persons being immersed or put under water ; but 
o[the also because the stated times of Baptism retuniins: to 

CilUrCn 11 ' 

Formerly seldom, great numbers were usually baptiz-jd at the 
yery large, same time. In the middle of them was always a parti- 
tion ; the one part for men, the other for women ■ ihat 
so, by being baptised asunder, they might avoid giv5 ^l; 
offence and scandal. But immersion being now too gen- 
erally discontinued, they have shruni? into little small 
fonts, scarce bigger th;^n mortars, and onl}^ employed 
to hold less basons with water, though th:s last be ex- 
pressly contrary to an ancient advertisement of o .- 
Wh d p^^"^^^^' ^^ ^s still indeed required that there be a font 
of etoutf. ^ ^" pvery church made of stone"^^ because, saith Durand*, 
the water that typified Baptism in the wilderness, flowed, 
from a rock^^ and because Christ, who gave forth the 
living water, is in Scripture called the Comer-Slone and 
the Rock. 
Baptism, §. % At this font the children, &c. are to be ready, 
^^rform«-d^ '^* ^'^^^diaiely afkr the l(ist lesson at morning prayer^ 
after the ^^' *^*^ ir^mediately^ afier th$ last lesson at evening prayer, 
second as the Curate by his discretion shall appoint. The reason 
^esson. of which I take to be, because by that time the whole 
congregation is supposed to be assembled ; which shews 
the irregularity (which prevails much in some churches) 
of putting off christenings till the whole service is over, 
and so reducing them (by the departing of the congre- 
gation) to almost private Baptisms. 

Sect. II. Of. the preparative Prayers and Exhortations^ t9 
be used before the Administration of Baptism. 

yhe first I. The people with the children, being ready, and 
guestion, ^^^ Priest coming to the Font^ {which is then to be filled 
with pure water,) as our present rubric directs, and stan- 
ding there^ is, in the ^rst place, to ask. Whether the child 
has been already baptized or no ? The reason of which is, 
because Baptism is never to be repeated ; for as there 
is but one Lord and one Faith, so there is but one Bap- 

3 See the Advertisements of 5 Rstional. Divin. Offic. 1, ^. 

Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1564. in c. 82. num. 25. fol. 364, 
Bishop Sparrow, page 12i, 6 Exod. xvii. 6. 

- 4 Caaon XVHI. 



of Public Baptism of Inf arils* 3f»5 

jism\ And in the primitive Church those that stood up ^^\^ 
so earntstly for rebaptizing those who had been baptiz- "^ 

ed by heretics, did not look upon that as a second Bap- 
tisKi,but esteemed that which had been conferred by here- 
tics as invalid ; seeing heretics, being out of the Church, 
could not give what they had not^ And others, rather 
than repeat that Sacrament, allowed even that Baptism 
to be valid which was administered by heretics, if it ap- 
peared that it had been porformed in the name of the Fa- 
ther^ and of the Son^ and of the Holy Ghost, 

II. ti the Minister be answered, that the child hath J^®^^^' 
not been baptized, he then begins the solemnity with an ^°^ ^ '°"' 
Exhortation to pray; for there being a mutual cove- 
nant in this Sacrament between God and Man, so vast a 
disproportion between the parties, and so great a con- 
descension on the part of the Almighty, (who design? 
only our advantage by it, and is moved by nothing but 
his- own free grace to agree to it ;) it is very reasonable, 
the whole solemnity should be begun with an humble 
address to God. 

in. For which purpose follow two Prayers: in the The tw© 
first of which we commemorate how God did typify this ^^^J*"- 
Salvation, which he now gives by Baptism, in saving 
Noah and his family by Water^^ and by carrying the 
Israelites safe through the Red-Sea^^^ as also how Christ 
hiaiseif, by being baptized, sanctified Water to the mys- 
tical washing away of sin : and upon these grounds we 
pray that God by his Spirit will wash and sanctify this 
child, that he may be delivered from his wrath, received 
into the ark of his chnrch, and so filled with grace as to 
live holily here, and happily hereafter*. 

In the second prayer, to express our earnestness and 
importunity, we again renew our address, requesting, 
first, That this child may be pardoned and Fegenerated ; 
and, secondly. That it may be adopted and accepted hj 
AJmighty God. 



♦ The first prayer in King Edward's book was a little dif- 
ferently expressed ; but to the same sense, the language on* 
ly being afterwards amended. 

7 Eph. \v. 5. Const. 1. 6. c. 15. Cyril. Hiero^ 

8 Tert. de Bapt. c. 15. page Praef, f. 4. p. 6. 
230. B. Cyprian. Hi?t. Concil. 9 1 Pet. iii. 20, 2U 
fljirlbag. pag. 229, Sic, Apost. 10 1 Cor. x, 2, 



3C6 Of the Ministration 

Chap. VII. ^, 2. Between these two prayers in King Edward's first 
~' "^ Litiirgj, the Priest was to asii the name of the child of its 
croslwof^^^^^/'^^^^ and Godmothers, and then to make a Cross 
thepersons upon Jts Forehead and Breast, saying, 
baptized in N. Receive the sign of the holy Cross both in thy Forehead 
fhe priuii- ^j^ J 1^^ ij^y Breast, in token that thou shall not be ashamed 
Church, io confess thy Faith in Christ crucified ; and so on as in 
our own form, only speaking all along to the child. This 
is now done only upon the Forehead, and reserved till 
after the child is baptized : though it is manifest there 
were anciently in the primitive Church two several sign- 
ings with the cross: viz. one before Baptism^^ as was or- 
dered by our first Liturgy; and the other after it, which 
was used with Unction at the time of Confirm.ation, of 
which f shall have occasion to speak hereafter. Why the 
Crossing which we now retain is ordered after Baptism, 
will be shewn when 1 come to that part of the service. 
Exorcis- §' ^' ^^^^^ ^^^ second of these prayers, in the first Li- 
in^. an;an- turgy of King Edward, follows a form of exorcism, which 
cientprac- 1 have printed in the margint, which was founded upon 
tice 111 a custom that obtained in the ancient ages of the Church, 
ap ism. ^^ exorcise the person baptized, or to cast the Devil out 
of him, who was supposed to have taken possession of 
the catechumen in his unregenerate state. And it can- 
not be denied but that possessions by evil spirits were 
very frequent before the spreading of the Gospel, when 
we read that many of them were ejected through the 
name of Christ. But the use of exorcism^ as an ordinary 
rite in the administration of Baptism, cannot well be 
proved from any earlier authors than of the fourth cen- 



"{Then Jet the Priest, looking upon the Children., say, 

I command thee, uncleaii Spirit, in the name of the FatJier^ 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out and de- 
part from these Infants, whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath vouch- 
safed to call to his holy Baptism, to be made members oj his 
Bodif^and of his holy Congregation. Therefore, thou cursed 
Spirit., remember thy sentence, remember thy judgment, remem- 
l*f_r the day to be at hand, wherein thou shalt burn in fire ever- 
laHilnir, prepared for thee and thy angels. And presume not 
hereafter to exercise any tyranny towards these Infants, whom 
Christ hath bo7i^ht zvith his precious Bloody and by this his^ 
holy Baptism callcth to be of his flock. 

II Ambr. de iis qni iniliantur, c. 
4. August, de Symbolr,!. 2. c, 1. 



ofPuhlk Baptism of Infants* 367 

tiiry, when it was taken in to denote that persons, before Sec. II. 

they were regenerate by Baptism, were under the king- ' — 

dom of darkness, and held by the power of sin and the 
Devil". But it being urged by Bucer, in his censure of 
the Liturgy, that this Exorcism was originally used to 
none but Demoniacs, and that it was uncharitable to im- 
agine that all were Demoniacs who came to Baptism^^ ; 
it was thought prudent by our Reformers to leave it out 
of the Liturgy, when they took a review of it in the fifth 
and sixth of King Edward. But to proceed in our own 
office. 

IV* The people standing up, (which shews that they The Goa- 
were to kneel at the two foregoing prayers,) the Minister, ^f^' ^^,^ 
in the next place, is to read to them a portion out of the chose. 
Gospel of St. Mark^^. Which, though anciently applied 
to the Sacrament of Baptism", has been censured by 
some as improper for this place ; because the children 
there mentioned were not brought to be baptized. But 
if people would but consider upon what account the Gos- 
pel is placed here, I cannot think but they would retract 
so impertinent a charge. In the making of a covenant, 
the express consent of both parties is required: and 
therefore the covenant of Baptism being now to be 
made, between Almighty God and the child to be bapti- 
zed ; it is reasonable, that, before the Sureties engage in 
behalf of the Infant, they should have some comfortable 
assurances, that God on his part will be pleased to con- 
sent to and make good the agreement. For their satis- 
faction, therefore, the Priest, who is God's ambassador, 
produces a warrant from Scripture, (the declaration of 
his will,) whereby it appears that God is willing to re- 
ceive Infants into his favour, and hath by Jesus Christ 
declared them capable of that grace and glory, which 
on God's part are promised in this Baptismal Covenant : 
wherefore the Sureties need not fear to make the stipu- 
lation on their part, since they have God's own word, 
that there is no impediment in children to make 
them incapable of receiving that which he hath promis- 
ed, and will surely perform. 



* In the first book of King Edward, the Priest was to say, 
The Lord be "jcith you. The people were to answer, And 
with thy Spirit. And then followed the Gospel, 

12 Greg. Naz. Orat. 40. Cyril, page 480. 

Hieros. in Praef. ad Catech. 14Tert.de Baptismo, c. 18. 

13 Bucer Scripture ADglicau. page 231. 



Sdt Of the Ministration 

Cbap.VlI. From all which premises, the Church, in a brief £x- 

"^ hortalion that follows, concludes, that the sureties may 

An Exhor- cheerfully promise that which belongs to ^/leir part, since 
God by his Son hath given sufficient security that his 
part shall be accomplished. But this being the over- 
llowings of God's piire mercy and goodness, and not 
owing to any merits or deserts in us, it is fit it should be 
acknowledged in an humble manner. 
Tht V. And therefore next follows a thanksgiving* for 

Thanks- Qyp Q^y,^ ^all to the knowledge of, and faith in God, 
&»ving- -which we are put in mind of by this fresh occasion : and 
wherein we also beg of God to give a new instance of 
his goodness, by giving his holy Spirit to the Infant now 
to be baptized, that so it may be born again, and made 
an heir of everlasting salvation* 
Ad old §. 2. After this thanksgiving in King Edward's first 

fceremony Li^ufgy^ //jg Priest was io take one of the children by the 
Edwards's right hand, the other beirig brought after him ; and coming 
first book, into the church toward the Font (for all the former part of 
the service was then said at the church-door) he was to 
say, The Lord vouchsafe to receive you into his holy house- 
hold, and to keep and govern you always in the same, thai 
you jnay have everlasting life. Amen, 
The Pre- ^"^* ^^^ "^^ ^^ doubt remaining but that God is 
face to the ready and willing to perform his part of the covenant, 
Covenant, go soon as the child shall promise on his ; the Priest ad- 
dresses himself to the Godfathers and Godmothers to 
promise for him, and from them takes security that the 
Infant shall observe the conditions that are required of 
him. And in this there is nothing strange or 
new ; nothing which is not used almost in every con- 
tract. By an old law of the Romans, all magistrates 
were obliged within five days after admission to their of- 
fice, to take an oath to observe the laws. Now it hap- 
pened that C. Valerius Flaccus was chosen Edile, or O- 
verseer of the public Buildings. But he being before 



* In the Common Prayer of 1549, the conclusion of this 
Exhortation was thus : Let us Jaithfully and devoutly give 
thanks unto him, and say the prayer which the Lord himself 
taught : and in declaration of our faith, let w< also recite tht 
articles contained in our Creed. Then the Minister, with the 
Godfathers and Godmothers and people present, were first 
to say the Lord's Prayer, and then the Creed. After which 
fiHlowed the Thanksg^iving^. 



of Public Baptism of Infants:. M^ 

i^Hamen Dialis^ or 3 up\iev''s High-Priest, could not be Sec ij; 

admitted by the Romans to swear ; their laws supposing -'- "^ 

that so SricreJ a f)crson would voluntai'ily do what an 
oath would ohliore him to. C Valerius however desir- 
ad that his brother, as his proxy, might be sworn in his 
stead: to this the commons agreed^ and passed an act 
that it should be all the same as if the Edile had sworn 
himself ^^ Much after the same manner, whenever 
Kings are crowned in their Infancy, some of the Nobil- 
ity, deputed to represent them, take the usual oaths. — 
The same do ambassadors for their principals at the rat- 
ifying of leagues or articles; and guardians for their 
minors, who are bound by the law to stand to what is 
contracted for them. Since then all nations and orders 
of men act by this method, why should it be charged 
as a fault upon the Church, that she admits infants to 
Baptism, by sponsors undertaking for them? 

Vlf. Having thus justiiied the reasonableness of a vi- ^he stinu^ 
carious stipulation, let us now proceed to consider the lations <d 
ifarni that is here used. It is drawn up all along by way ^^ ™ade 
of question and answer, which seems to have been the Jj^n^an^i 
method even in the days of the Apostles : for St. Peter answer, 
calls Baptism the answer of a good consimce : and in the 
primitive Church queries were always put to the per- 
sons baptized, which persons at age answered them- 
selves, and children by their representatives ^^ who are 
therefore to answer in the firsj; person, (as the advocate 
speaks in the person of the client,) / renounce^ ^c, be- 
cause the contract is properly made with the child. 

§. 2. For which reason, in the first book of King Ed- ^^J^^^^ 
ward, the Priest is ordered to demand of the child these the chikL 
several questions proposed ; and in our present Liturgy, 
though the Minister directs himself to the Godfathers 
and Godmothers, yet he speaks by theiil to the child, as 
is manifestly apparent from the third question : and con- 
sequently the child is supposed to return the several an- 
swers* which are made by the Godfathersj ^c, and to pro- 
mise by those that are his sureties (as the above preface ex- 



♦ Since this is so solemn a covenent, the slnswerl are to be made m 
• plain and avidible voice, and in the words prescribed in the office i 
not by a silent aseent, or inclination of the body.— */2m-. Ed* 

15 Livii lib. 31. c 50. 231. C. et S. Augu»t. F.pisf. d8< 

16 1 Peter iii. 21. Cora, 2. c»l. 2S7. F, 

17 Tertfrt ie Bap. «. 18. p. 

Y Y 



370 Of the Minislratio7i 

Qiap. VII. presses it) that he will renounce the Devil and all his works, 
*^ and constantly believe God'^s holy word, arid obediently keep 
his Commandments. 

counrof §* ^* '^^^^ Queries proposed are four, of which the last 

the Que- was added at the Restoration ; there being but three of 

ries. them in any of the former books, though in the first of 

King Edward they are broke into eight. They being all 
of them exceedingly suitable and proper, I think it not 
amiss to take notice of them severally. 

^erj 1. §. 4. First, then, when we enter into covenant with 
God, we must have the same friends and en-emies as he 
hath; especially when the same that are enemies to him, 
are also enemies to our salvation. And therefore, since 
children are by nature the slaves of the Devil, and,though 
they have not yet been actually in his service, will never- 
theless be apt to be drawn into it, by the pomps and glory 
oj the world, and the carnal desires o^ the flesh; it is neces- 
sary to secure them for God betimes, and to engage 
them to take all these for their enemies, since whoso lo- 
veth them cannot love God ^'. 

Query 2* §. 5. Secondly, Faith is a necessary qualification for 
Baptism ^'^ ; and therefore before Philip would baptize 
the Eunuch, he asked him. If he believed with all his heart? 
and received his answer, that he believed Jesus to be iht 
SonofGod^^. From which remarkable precedent the 
Church hath ever since demanded of all those who enter 
into the Christian profession, if they believe all the Articles 
which are implied in that profession ; and this was eith- 
er done by way of question and answer ^*, or else the 
party baptized (if of age) was made to repeat the whole 
Creed ^. 

Qjierj S. §. 6. But thirdly, it is not only necessary that the par- 
ty to be baptized do believe the Christian Faith ; but 
he must also desire to be joined to that Society by the 
solemn right of initiation : wherefore the child is farther 
demanded. Whether he will he baptized in this Faith ? be- 
cause God will have no unwilling servants, nor ought men 
to be compelled by violence to religion. And yet the 
Christian religion is so reasonable and profitable both 
as to this world and the next, that the Godfathers may 
very well presume to answer for the child, that this i« 

18 1 John ii. 15. 4. p. 285. Ambr. de Sacr. I, 2. c. 

39 Mark xvi. 16. 7. torn, iv. col. 360. K. 

20 Acts viii. 37, 22 Aug. Serm. 58. in Matf. vi- 

21 C)Til. Catech. Mystag. 2. i. torn. v. col. 337. D. E, 



of Public Baptism of Infanli, 371 

his desire : since if the child could understand the excel- Sec. UI, 
lency of this religion, and speak its mind, it would with- 
out doubt be ready to make the same reply, 

§. 7. Lastly, St. Paul tells us, They that are baptized Query 4. 
must walk in newness ofhfe^i for which reason the child 
is demanded, fourthly, If he will keep God's holy will 
and commandments ^and walk in the same all the days of his 
life ? For since he now takes Christ for his Lord and 
Master, and lists himself under his banner, it is fit he 
should vow, in the words of this Sacrament, to observe 
the commands of his general. Wherefore as he promised 
to forsake all e-cil before, so now he must engage to do all 
that is good, without which he cannot be admitted into 
the Christian Church, 

§. 8. I cannot conlude this section, till I have observed, ™^ ^^F^ 
that this w^hole stipulation is so exactly conformable to i'^"*!J°^ 
that which was used m the primitive Church, that it c£^n- tive. 
not be unpleasant to compare them together. All that 
were to be baptized, were brought to the entrance of the 
Baptistery or Font, and standing with their faces towards 
the West, (which being directly opposite to the East, the 
place of Light, did symbolically represent the Prince of 
Darkness,whora they were to renounce,) were command- 
ed to stretch out their hands as it were in defiance of him ; 
and then the Bishop asked them every one, "Dost thou 
"renounce the Devil and all his works, powers, and ser- 
"vice ?" To which each party answered, ^'I do renounce 
"them." — "Dost thou renounce the World, and all its 
"pomps and vanities ?" Answer, ^'I do renounce them'^" 
In the next place they made an open confession of their 
Faith, the Bishop asking, "Dost thou believe in God the 
"Father Almighty, &c. in Jesus Christ his only Son our 
"Lord, who, fee. Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, 
"the holy Catholic Church, and in one Baptism ofRe- 
"pentance for Remission of Sins, and the Life everlast- 
"ing ?" To all which each party answere^J, "I do be* 
"lieve;" as our Church still requires in this office=^^ 

Sect. IIL Of the Administration of Baptism, 
L The contract beiner now made, it is fit the Minis- The pray- 

o ' er for (he 

Bftnctificd.* 

23 Rom. vi. 4. ment. 1. 1. c.2. torn, iv. col. 354. tion of th« 

24 Const. Apost. 1. 7, c. 41. A. child. 
Dion. Areop. de Elccl. Hier. c. 2. 25 Const. Apost. 1. 7. c. 41. 

p. 77. D. Ambr. de Init. c. 2. Cyril. Catech Mystag. 2. f. 4. p. 
iom. W> coL 343> S. De Sacra- 285. Ambr. de Sacrament. 1, S. q. 

7. tom^, iv. col. 360 K. 



$7% Qfi ihe MinistraiiqiM 

§hap. VII, ter should more peculiarly intercede with God for gpaee-, 

- . ■ ■;"* to perform it; ai\d therefore, in the next place, h^ 
offers up four short peliiions for the child's sanctifica- 
tion. Most of our commentators upon the Common 
Prayer think, that they were added to supply the place of 
the old Exorcisms. But it is certain they were placed ia 
the first book of King Edward with no such intent. For 
by that (as 1 have observed) a form of Exorcism was to 
be used over every child that was brought to be baptizec'; 
whereas these petitions were only to be used at such times 
as the water in the font was to be changed and conse- 
crated, which was not then ordered to be done above 
once a month. For which reason tlie form for consecra^ 
ting it, did not, as now, make a part of the public ofiice 
for Baptism, but was placed by iiself, at the end of the 
office for the administration of it in private, (?'. e, at the 
end of the whole ; for there was no office then for the 
Paptism of such as are of riper years.) 

^nd for The form that was used then was something different 

ation"of' ^^"^"^ what we use now. It was introduced with a prayer, 

the water- that v/as afterward* left out at the second review*. And 
these petitions that are still retained, ran then in the plu- 
jal number, and the future tense in the behalf of all that 
should be baptiiied till the water should be changed again. 
And this is the reason that the last of these petitions still 



^ O most merciful God our Saviour Jesu Christy who hast 
ordained the element of water Jor the Regeneration of thy faith-^ 
Jul people^ upon whom, being baptized in the river of Jordon, 
the Holy Qhost came down in the Wfeness of a dove ; send down,, 
we beseech thee, the same thy holy Spirit to, assist us^ and to be 
present at thi^ our invocation of thy holy name : sanctify -^this 
fountain of Baptism, thou that art the Sanctifier of all 
things^ thai by the power of thy wordf alt those that 
shall be baptized therein, may be spiritually regenerated 
and made the children of everlasting adoption. Amen. 
This was the fast prayer for the consecrating of the Water 
in the first Gomri^ on Prayer. From whence these words, 
Sanctify this fountain of Baptism, thou that art the Sanctifer 
of all things.) were taken by the compilers of the Scotch 
form, and inserted within crotchets [] in the ifirst prayer at 
the beginning of the office after the words — mystical wash- 
ing away ^jfsin ; against which was added a direction in the 
margin —.That the water in the font should be changed twice 
in the monik at least. And before any child should he baptized 
in the water so changed., the Presbyter or Minister should ^0 
0l the font the "Word^ thus enclosed []. 



Of Public Baptism of Inftinl^;. SfS 

xuns in general terms, it being continued word for word Seo. WJi. 
from the old form. Between the two last also were four -■ ' 

other petitions inserted, which are now omitted*. And 
after all (the usual salutation intervening, viz. The Lord be 
with you, And with thy Spirit) followed the prayer, which 
we still retam for the consecration of the water. There is 
some little difference in it towards the conclusion,because 
the water being sanctified by the first prayer above men- 
tioned, there was no occasion to repeat the consecration 
in this; for which reason the words then, and in all the 
books to the last review, ran in this form : Regard we be- 
seech thee, the supplications of thy congregation^ and grant 
thai all thy servants, which shall he baptized 4n this water, 
prepared for the ministration of thy holy Sacrament, [which 
we here bless and dedicate in thy name to this spiritual 
washing't,'] may receive the fulness of thy grace ; and so on. 
Of this form Bucer, in his censure^^ could by no means 
approve. Such blessings and consecrations of things ina- 
nimate tend strangely (he tells us) to create in people's 
minds terrible notions of magic or conjuration. He al* 
lows such consecrations indeed to be very ancient, but 
however they are not to be found in the word of God. 
At the second Reformation therefore,the Common Pray-i - 
er Book comes out, with all that relates directly to the 
consecration of the water omitted. The first prayer a» 
bove mentioned was left out entirely, and the last purg- 
ed from those words, prepared for the ministration of the 
holy Sacrament. And thus the form continued till the 
last review, when a clause was again added to invocate 
the Spirit, to sanctify the Water to the mystical washing a- 
way of sin. Now by this is meant, not that the water 



* Whosoever shall confess thee, Q Lord, recognize him alsfi 
in thy kingdom, Amen^ 

Grant that all sin and vice here may be so extinct, that they 
never have power to reign in thy servants. Amen. 

Grant that whosoever here shall beginto be of thy flocks may 
evermore continue in the same. Amen. 

Grant that all they which for thy sake, in this life, do deny 
and forsake themselves, may win and purchase thee, O Lord^ 
ivhich art everlasting treasure. Amen. 

t The words thus enclosed [] are only in the Scotch Lit- 

9« Script. Anglican, p. 481^ 



374 Of the Minis irution 

Chnp.Vl[. contracts any new quality in its nature or essence, by 
such consecration ; but only that it is sanctified or made 
holy in its use, and separated from common to sacred 
purposes. In order to which, though the primitive 
Christians believed as well as we do, that water in gen- 
eral was sufficiently sanctified by the Baptism of our 
Saviour in the river Jordon^'^ ; yet when any particular 
water was at any time used in the administration of Bap- 
tism, they were always careful to consecrate it first by a 
solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit^. 
Name, jj^ ^[j things beins: thus prepared for the Baptism of 

atBaptieu). ^"^ Child, the Minister is now to take it into his hands^ and 
to ask the Godfathers and Godmothers to name it. For 
the Christian Kame being given as a badge that we belong 
to Christ, we cannot more properly take it upon us, than 
when we are enlisted under his banner. We bring one 
name into the world v/ith us, which we derive from our 
parents, and which serves to remind us of our original 
guilt, and that we are born in Sin : but this new name is 
given us at our Baptism, to remind us of our new Birtb^ 
when, being washed in the Laver of Regeneration, we 
are thereby cleansed from our natural impurities, and 
become in a manner new creatures, and solemnly dedi- 
cate ourselves to God. So that the naming of children 
at this time hath been thought by many to import some- 
thing more than ordinary, and to carry with it a myste- 
rious sie;nificat!on. We find something like it even a- 
mong the Heathens : for the Romans had a custom of 
naming their children on the day of their Lustration, (i.e. 
when they were cleansed and washed from their natural 
pollution,) which was therefore called Dies Kominalis, 
And the Greeks also, when they carried their infants, a 
kittle after their birth, about the fire, (which was their 
ceremony of dedicating or consecrating them to their 
gods,) were used at the same time to give them their 
names. 

And that the Jews named their children at the time of 
Circumcision, the holy Scriptures^ as well as their own 
writers, expressly tell us. And though the rite itself of 
Circumcison was changed into that of Baptism by our 
Saviour, vet he made no alteration as to the time and 

27 lenat. ad Ephea. ♦. 18. iv, col. 359. K. Basil, de Spi'r. 

Grec^. Naz, Ek t^ Tut^x. So Sanct. c. 2". torn. ii. p. 2ll. A. 

also St, Jerora and St. Ambrose. 29 Gen. xxi. 3, 4. Lnke i. 59, 

23 Cyprian. Ep. 70. p. 190. 60. and chaptei ii. 21. 
Ambr. de Sacram. I. 2. c. 5. torn. 



of Public Baptism of Infants, S75 

f'ustom of giving the name, but left that to continue un- S^c. HI. 

der the new, as he had f;>und it under the old dispensa- — 

tion. Accordingly we find this time assigned and used 
to this purpose ever since ; the Christians continuing 
from the earliest ages to name their children at the time 
of Baptism. And even people of riper years commonly 
changed their name, (as Saul, saith St. Ambrose^^ at 
that time changed his name to Paul,) especially if the 
name they had before was taken from an idol or false Ifeathtn 
«:od. For the Nicene council forbids the giving: of hea- ?.^,nt"^°** 
then names to Christians, and recommends the giving the prohibifed' 
name of some Apostle or Saint^* : not that there is any 
fortune or merit in the name itself, but that, by such 
tueans, the party might be stirred up to imitate the exam- 
ple of that holy person whose name he bears. And by 
a provincial constitution of our own Church, made by 
Archbishop Peccham, A. D. 12Bl,it is provided, that no 
wanton names be given to children ; or if they be, that 
they be changed at Confirmation^^ 

§.2. As to the appointment of the name, it may be'^^^^^S'^- 
pitched upon by the relations, (as we may see has been Godfath-^ 
the custom of old" :) but the rubric directs that it be die- er?, and 
tated by ihe Godfathers and Godmothers. For this be« ^^^y* 
ing the token of our new Birth, it is fit it should be given 
by those who undertake for our Christianity, and en- 
gage that we shall be bred up and live like Christians ; 
which being confirmed by the custom and authority of 
the church in all ages, is abundantly enough to justi- 
fy the practice, and satisfy us of the reasonableness of it. 

III. After the name is thus given, the Priest {if the God- The out- 
faihers, ^c. certify him that the child may well endure it) J^BaJSm 
is to dip it in the water discreetly and warily ; which was 
in all probability the way by which our Saviour, and 
for certain was the usual and ordinary way by which 
the primitive Christians did receive their Baptism^'*. — 
And it must be allowed that by dipping, the ends and 
effects of Baptism are more significantly expressed ; for Immersion 
as in Immersion there are three several acts, viz, the put- J'nJ^/^l^i','^.? 
ling the person under water, his abiding therefor some hive and 

30 In Dominic. Prim. Quad- den's Remains, 

rag. Serm. 2. Ordine 31. torn. v. 33 Ruth i v. 17. Luke i. 59. 

col. 43. K. 34 Acts viii. 28. Rom. vi. 3,4. 

51 Vid. Canon. Arabic. Can. Col. ij- 12. Const. Apo«t. I. 3. c. 

30. torn. ii. col. 209. E. 17. Barnabas, c. 11. p:ige 70. K- 

32 See Bishop Gibson's Codex, dit. Oxon. 1685. Ter(. de Bapt. 

vol. i. page 440. See also Carat' g. 4. et de Oriit. c. 11. 



most prim- 
itive and 
significant. 



- Si? 6 Of the Minis i ralro)i 

Qtap. VIL j^inie, aiid his rising up again ; so by these were reprd' 
~"~ sented Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection; and in 
conformity thereunto (as the Apostle plainly shews^*) 
our dying unto Sin, the destruction of its power, and 
our resurrection to newness of [jife. Though indeed 
a ds of Affusion is not wholly without its signiiicition, or entire- 
B^ptistn ly inexpressive of the end of Baptism. For as the 
answered immersing or dipping the body of the baptized represents 
by Affu- ^j^g burial of a dead person under ground ; so also trie 
affusion ov pouring water n^on the party, answers the 
covering or throwing earth upon the deceased. So that 
both ceremonies agree in this, that they figure a death 
and burial unto sin : and therefore though Immersion be 
tha most significant ceremony of the two, yet it is not 
so necessary but that affusion in some cases may sup- 
ply the room of it. For since Baptism is only an ex- 
ternal rite, representing an internal and spiritual action, 
such an act is sufficient, as fully represents to us the in- 
stitution of Baptism : the divine grace, which is thereby 
conferred, being not measured by the quantity of water 
used in the administration of it. It is true, dipping and 
affusion are two different acts ; but yet the w^ord baptize 
implies them both : it being used frequently in Scripture 
to denote not only such washing as is performed by dip- 
ping, but also such as is performed by pouring or rub- 
bing water upon the thing or person washed^®. And 
therefore when the Jews baptized their children, in or- 
der to Circumcision, it seems to* have been indifferent 
with them, whether it was done by immersion or affu- 
sion^''. And that the primitive Christians understood it 
th e^re^^ in this latitude, is plain, from their administering this ho- 
used upon ly Sacrament in the case of sickness, haste, want of wa- 
some oc- ter, OF the like, hj affusion, or pouring water upon the 
casions by f^ice. Thus the Jailor and his family, who were bapti- 
\\xe Chr^s" zed by St. Paul in haste, the same hour of the night that 
(ians. they were converted and believed^^ are reasonably sup- 
posed to have been baptized by affusion : since it can 
hardly be thought that at such an exigency they had 
water sufficient at hand to be immersed in. The same 
may be said concerning Basilides, who, Eusebius tells 
ns, was baptized by some brethren in prison^^ For 

35 Rom. vi. 3, 4. six. 18, 19- 

S6 See Mark vii. 4. and Luke 27 Mischna de Sabbato, c. 19 

xi. 38. in the Greek, and Heb.ix. J. 3. 
10. also in the Greek, compared 38 Acts xvi. 33. 

\<'iih Notebers viiii 7. atid chap. ^9 Eu:eb. Hist. Eccle. 1 >. c, 5'* 



o/ Public Baptism of Infants. 37f 

the strict custody, under which Christian prisoners were Sec \\U 
kept, (their tyrannical jailors hardly allowing them "^ 

necessaries for life, much less such conveniences as they 
desired for their religion,) makes it more than probable 
that this must have been done by affusion only of some 
small quantity of water. And that Baptism in this way 
was no unheard-of practice before this, may be gather- 
ed from Tertullian, who, speaking of a person of uncer- 
tain repentance oiTering himself t-o be baptized, asks, 
Who would help him to out single sprinkling of wafer '^ ? 
The Acts also of St. Laurence, who suffered martyrdom 
about the same time as St. Cyprian, tells us how one of 
the soldiers that were to be his executioners, being con- 
verted, brought a pitcher of water for St. Laurence to 
baptize him with. And lastly, St. Cyprian, being con- 
sulted by one Magnus, in reference to the validity of Cli- 
nic Baptism, (z. e. such as was administered to sick persons 
on their beds by aspersion or sprinkling,) not only allows, 
but pleads for it at large, both from the nature of the Sa- 
crament, and design of the Institution'^^ It is true, such 
persons as were so baptized, were not ordinarily capa- 
ble of being admitted to any office in the Church'^^: but 
then the reason of this, as is intimated by the council of 
Neocaesarea, was'not that they thought this manner of 
Baptism was less effectual than the other, but because 
such a person's coming to the faith was not voluntary, 
but of necessity. And therefore it was provided by the 
same council, that if the diligence and faith of a person so 
baptized did afterwards prove commendable, or if the 
scarcity of others, fit for the holy offices, did by any 
means require it, a Clinic Christian might be admitted 
into holy orders'*^ However, except upon extraordina- 
ry occasions, Baptism was seldom, or perhaps never, ad- 
ministered for the four first centuries, but by immersion 
or dipping. Nor is aspersion or sprinkling ordinarily 
used, to this day, in any country that was never subject 
to the Pope'*^. And among those that submitted to his 
authority, England was the last place where it was rccei- 
ved"*^. Though it has never obtained so far as to be en- 
joined, dipping having been always prescribed by the 

40 Q"is enim tlbi, tarn infidae 42 Euseb. Hist. Ecc!. 1. 6. c.4.S, 
Poenilentiae Viro, asperginena u- 43 Concil. Neocces. Can. 12. 
nam cujuslibet Aquae coramoda- 44 See this proved in Dr. Wall's 
bit ? Tertul. de Poenitentia, c. 6. Histdrv of Infant-Eaplism, part ij, 

41 Cypr. Ep. 69. ad magnum, cha^.. <). }. 2 
p.l85,&c. 

Z z 



378 ©fthe Ministration 

Chap. VII. rubric. The Salisbury Missal, printed in 1530, (the 
last that was in force before the Reformation,) express- 
ly requires and orders dipping. And in the first Com- 
mon Prayer Book of Kmg Edward VI. the Priest's gen- 
eral order is to dip it in the water^ so it be discreetly and 
warily done ; the rubric only allowing, if the child be 
weak^ that then it shall suffice topour water upon it. Nor 
was there any alteration made in the following books, 
except the leaving out of the order to dip it thrice, 
which was prescribed by the first book. 
How Affu- However, it being alloived to weak children (though 
siopor strong enough to be brought to church) to be baptized 
firi^^mlf ^■'J Affusion ; many fond ladies at first, and then by de- 
in prac- grees the common people, would persuade the minister 
tice. that their children were too tender for dipping. But 
what principally tended to confirm this practice was, 
that several of our English divines flying into Germany 
and Switzerland, &:c. during the bloody reign of Queen 
Mary, and returning home w^hen Queen Elizabeth came 
to the crown, brought back with them a great love and 
zeal to the custom of those Protestant Churches beyond 
sea, where they had been sheltered and received. 
And consequently having observed that in Geneva, and 
some other places. Baptism was ordered to be perform- 
ed by affusion"*^, they thought they could not do the 
Church of England a greater piece of service, than to 
introduce a practice dictated by so great an oracle as 
Calvin. So that in the latter times of Queen Elizabeth, 
and during the reigns of King James and Charles I, 
there were but very few children dipped in the font. 
And therefore when the questions and answers in rela- 
tion to the Sacraments were first inserted at the end of the 
Catechism, upon the accession of King James I. to the 
throne, the answer to the question. What is the outward 
visible sign or form in Baptism ? was this that follows: 
Water^ wherein the person baptized is dipped, or sprinkled 
with it in the name of the Father, 4'C. And afterwards, 
when the Directory was put out by the Parliament, af- 
fusion (to those who could submit to their ordinance) 
began to have a show of establishment; it being de- 
clared not only lawful^ but sufficient and most expedient that 
children should be baptized, by pouring or sprinkling of water 
on the face. And as it were for the farther prevention of 

46 See Calvin^s Institution?, 1, olog. Catechismus, p, 57. ed. Be- 
4. c. 15. *. 19. and Tractat,The- zse, 1576. 



o/ Puhlie Baptism of Infants, 379 

immersion or dipping, it was particularly provided that ^^' ; 
Baptism 'should not be administered in the places where ~ 
fonts, in the time of Popery, were unfitly and superstitiously 
placed. And accordingly (which was equal to the rest of 
the reformation) they changed the Font into a Bason: 
which being brought to the Minister in his reading desk, 
and the child being held below him, he dipped ip his 
fingers, and so took up water enough just to let a drop 
or two fall on the child's face'^^ These Reformers, it 
seems, could not recollect that Fonts to baptize in 
had been long used before the times of Popery, and 
that they had no where been discontinued from the be- 
ginning of Christianity, but in such places where the 
Pope had gained authority. But our Divines at the 
Restoration, understanding a little better the sense of 
Scripture and antiquity, again restored the order for 
Immersion: however, for prevention of any danger to 
the child, the Priest is advised to be first certified that it 
will loell endure it. So that the difference between 
the old rubric, and what it is now, is only this: As it 
stood before, the Priest was to dip, unless there was an 
averment or allegation oi weakness ; as it stands now, he 
is not to dip, unless there be an averment or certifying 
of strength sufficient to, endure it. 

This order, one would think, should be most unex- 
ceptionable of any that could be given; it keeping as 
close to the primitive rule for Baptism, as the coldness of 
our region, and the tenderness wherewith Infants are now 
used, will sometimes admit. Though Sir John Floyer, in 
a discourse on Cold Baths, hath shown, from the nature 
of our bodies, from the rules of medicine, from modern 
experience, and from ancient history, that nothing would 
tend more to the preservation of a child's health, than 
dipping it in Baptism. However, the parents not caring 
to make the experiment, take so much the advantage of 
the reference that is made to their judgments concerning 
the strength of their children, as never to certify they 
may well endure dipping. It is true, indeed, the question 
is now seldom asked; because the child is always 
brought in such a dress, as shows that there is no inten- 
tion that it should be dipped. For whilst dipping in the 
font continued in fashion, they brought the child in 
such sort of clothing, as might be taken off and put on 

47 See Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism, part ii. chap. 9. 
page 472. edit. 2. 



> 



380 Qftht Minisiratmn ^ 

^^'^P' ^'^^' a.2:nin without any hindrance or trouble. But since thft 
Church not only permits, but rrquires dipping-, wh- r;^ it 
is certified the child may wdl endure it ; and consequent- 
ly since the Minister is always ready to dip, whensoever 
it is duly required of him; it is very hard that any 
should urge the not dipping or immersing, as a plea for 
separation. 
Trine Im- §.2. But to proceed: by King Edward's first book, 
ine-s-oa an ^i^q Minister is to dip the child in the v/ater thrice ; first 

ancient t • ,? • 7 , • ? t> , , /. ■ , , , , • • 

practice, dipping tne rrgfit side', secondly, the left side; \the third 

time ^ dippitijy the -face toward the font. This was the gen- 
eral practice of (.ha primitive Church, viz. to dip the 
person thrice, i. e. once at the name of each person in 
the Trinity, the more fully to express that sacred mys- 
tery*^. Though some later writers say this was done to 
represent the Death, Biu'ial, and Resurrection of our 
Saviour, together with his three days continuance in the 
grave'*^. St, Austin joins both these reasons together, as a 
double mystery of this ancient rite, as he is cited by Gra- 
tian to this purpose*^ Several of the fathers, that make 
mention of this custom, own, that there is no command for 
it in Scripture : but then they speak of it as brought into 
use by the Apostles" ; and therefore the fiftieth of the 
canons that are called Apostolical, deposes any Bishop 
or Presbyter that administers Baptism without it. 
"VVby tlis- But afterwards when the Arians made a wicked advan- 
eonimued. ^^^^^ of this custom, by persuading the people that it was 
used 10 denote that the persons in the Trinity were three 
distinct substances ; it first became a custom*^, and then 
a kiw^% in the Spanish Church, and only to use one single 
immersion ; because that would express the Unity of 
the Godhea(J, w^hile the Trinity of Persons would be suf- 
ficiently denoted by the person's being baptized in 
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. How- 
ever, in other parts of the Church, Trine Immersion most 
commonly prevailed, as it does in the Greek Church tp 

48 Tertul. adv. Pr^x. c.26. p. de Consecrat. Dist. 4. c 78. 
516. A. et de Coron. Mil. c. 3. 51 Tertul. de Coron. Mil. c. 3. 
BumI. de Sp. S.tnct. c. 27. Hieron. p. 102 A. Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 
adv. L'.icif. c. 4.Hierar. Eccles. c. 2 i. 4. pa». 286 B. SozomeD. 
2 Ambros. de Sacram. 1. 2. r. 7. Hist. Eccles. ). 6. c 26, p. 673. 
Can. Ap. 50. Ba^. 92. Leo IX. D. Hieron. adv. Lucif. 

49 Gre{(. Nyss.de Udpt. tiiris- 52 Ooncil. Congtaut. Can. 7, 
ti, torn. ii:. p. 372. Cyri'. Catech. Greg. Epist. ad Leandrum Reg.l. 
MVfctai^. 2. u. 4. Leo, Ep. 4. ad. 1. c. 41. 

j:pi,'. Mc(iio«. c. 3. ' 53 Concil. Tolet. 4. Can, 6, 

' 5Q Auj.Hom. 3. apud Gratian. torn. v. col. 1706. 



of Public Baptism of Infants. 38! 

this very day^'*. Upon what account it was omitted in See. \i^ 
the second book of Kinj^ Edward, I do not find : but — — — 
there being no order in the room of it to confine the Min- 
ister to a single Immersion, I presume it is left to his 
judgment and discretion to use which he pleases. The form 

ly. When the Priest dips or pours Water upon the °^ ^*^'"^'° 
child, he is to say, (calling the child by its name,) N. / 
baptize thee, which was always the form of the Western 
Church. The Eastern Church useth a Utile variation, 
Let N. be baptized, &c/* or else, The servant of God, suck 
a one, is baptized, 4^c/^ but the sense is much the same : 
however, in the next words, viz. in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, all orthodox Chris- 
tians did ever agree ; because they are of Christ's own ap- 
pointment, and for that reason unalterable. Wherefore, 
when the heretics presumed to vary from this form, they 
were censured by the Church, and those Baptisms de- 
clared null, which were not administered in the name of 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Some indeed took lib- 
erty to mingle a paraphrase with them, baptizing in the 
name of the Father who sent, of the Son that came, and of 
the Holy Ghost that witnessed^'^ ; but our Reformers 
thought it more prudent to preserve our Lord's own 
words entire, without additition or diminution. 

Now by baptizing in the name of the three Persons, is 
not only meant that it is done by the comm-ission and au- 
thority of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but 
also that we are baptized into the faith of the holy Trin- 
ty, and are received into that society of men, who are 
distinguished from all false professions in the world, by 
believing in three Persons and one God. 

V. By the first Common Prayer of King Edward, af- Of the 
ter the child was thus baptized^ the Godfathers and God- ''^^^^^J^^^' 
mothers were to lay their hands upon it, and the Minister chrLome, 
was to put upon him his white Vesture, commonly called the 
Chrisome, and to say ; 

Take this white Vesture as a token of the Innocency, whichy 
hy God^s grace, in this holy Sacrament of Baptism, is given 
unto thee, and for a sign whereby thou art admonished so 
long as thou livest, to give thyself to innocence of livings 
that after this transitory life thou mayst be partaker of the 
life everlasting. Amen* 

54 See Sir Paul Rycant and Dr. 56 See Sir Paul Rycaut and Dr. 
Smitb*8 Accounts of the Greek Smith's Accounts of the Greek 
Church. Church. 

55 See the Euchologion., 57 Ck)nst, Ap. 1. 7. c. 22. 



Unction 

prescribed 



Coiifiroi' 
atioo 



382 Of the Minis tralion 

^*^^P-^" - This was a relic of an ancient custom I have former- 

Wh «o ^^ ^^^ occasion to mention^^ : the intention and design 

cal]id!° *^/ ^^ ^^ sufficiently expressed in the form above cited : I 

therefore need only observe farther, that it receives its 

name from the Chrism or Oinimmt^ with which the child 

was annointed when the Chriscme was put on. 

VI. For by the same book of King Edward, as soon 
bj the 611 ^s the Priest had pronounced the foregoing form, he 
book of Avas to annoint the Infant upon the head^ ^^y^^'^B', 
win vt -^^^k'^^y God, the Father of our Lord Jesns Christ, who 
^^'^' ■ hath regenerated thee by Water and the Holy Ghost, and 
halh given unto thee Remission nf alt thy Sins ; He vouch- 
safe to annoint thee with the Unction of his holy Spirit, and 
bring thee to the inheritance of everlasting life. Amen, 
Whether Whether the compilers of King Edward's Liturgj^ de- 
tion^e-' ^^g"^^ ^^^s ^s ^ contmuance of the Unction that ancient- 
longed to ^J "^ade a part of the office of Baptism ; or of the Unc- 
jBaptismor tion, which, though frequently used at the same tiuie 
with Baptism, was yet rather a ceremony belonging to 
Confirmation, is not clearly to be discovered. Accord- 
ing to the best of my judgment, 1 take it rather to be the 
latter ; for the Unction that was an immediate ceremony 
of Baptism, was always applied as soon as the party to 
be baptized was unclothed, and before his entrance into 
the water^ : whereas the Unction enjoined by King Ed- 
ward's Liturgy is ordered to be applied after the child 
is thoroughly baptized. For this reason, I suppose, it 
was coutinued as a relic of the Unction which the Priest 
used to perform preparatory to Confirmation. And 
what makes my opinion the more probable is, that in 
the old office for Confirmation, in that book, there is no 
order for the Bishop to annoint those whom he confirms ; 
which yet it is not to be imagined our Reformers 
(who showed such regard to all primitive customs) would 
by any means have omitted, if they had not known that 
the ceremony of Unction had been performed before. 
But to help the reader to a clear notion in this matter, 
it will be necessary to give him some little light into the 
ancient practice in relation to both these Unctions. 
\\o.^ they jjg j^^sj. know then, that the Unction that was used 
tiMsuished ^-/o^'« Baptism, was only with joure OiP, with which the 
in The party was annointed just before he entered the water, to 

primitive 

CliUich. 53 ggg pj^ge 247. sect. 19. Eccl. Hierarch. 1. 2. 

59 Constit. Apost. lib. 7. cap. 60 See the Authorities cited U 

23, Qvisest. ad Orthodox. 13r> the foregoing note. 



Of Public Baptism of Infants. 383 

signify that he was now becoming a champion for Christ, Sec II. 
and was entering upon a state of conflict and contention 
against the allurements of the world : in allusion to the 
custom of the old f^resilers or AiUhice^ who were always 
anointed against their solemn games, in order to render 
them more supple and active, and that their antegonists 
might take the less advantage and hold of thcn/'^ This 
was commonly crdled the Unction of the mystical Oil : 
whereas the Unction wherewith the party was anointed 
^fler Baptism, was called the Unction or Uhrism, beings 
performed with a mired or compound unguent^ and applied 
by the Bishop at the time of the imposition of his hands, 
partly to express the Baptism with Fire^ of which Oil, we 
know, is a proper material, partly to signify the invisible 
Unction of the Holy Spirii^^, and partly to denote that 
the person so annointed is admitted to the privileges of 
Christianity, which are described by the Apostles to be 
a chosen Generation, a royal Priesthood^ an holy Nation^ 
4^c.^^ in the designation to which offices, annointing was 
generally used as a symbol. And this account Tertul- 
lian favours^"^, where speaking of the Unction that fol- 
lowed Baptism, he tells us it was derived from the an* 
cient, i, e. the Jewish discipline, where the Priests were 
wont to be annointed to their office. 

But farther^ the annointing in Baptism might be per- 
formed by either a Deacon or Deaconess^^; whereas 
the Chrism that belonged to Confirmation could not at 
first be ordinarily applied by any under the order of a 
Bishop. Afterwards indeed, when Christianity began 
to spread far and wide, so that Bishops could not be pro- 
cured upon every extraordinary emergency, the Bishops 
found it necessary to give liberty to the Presbj^ters to 
anoint those whom they baptized in cases of extremity ; 
that so, if a Bishop could not be sent for in convenient 
time, a sick member of the Church might not depart 
wholly deprived of those spiritual 'assistances which 
Confirmation was to supply. However, the privilege of 
making and consecrating the holy Unguent, and the 
rite of laying on of hands, they still reserved to them- 
selves ; and only took care to supply their Presbyters 
with a due quantity of Chrism, that they might not be 

61 Chrys, Horn. 8. in Ep. ad 20, 27. 
Coloss.Ambros. de Sacram.l. 1. c. 63 1 Peter ii. 9. 

2. 64 Tertull, de Bapt, c. 7. 

62 2 Cor. i. 24, 52. 1 John ii. 65 Const. Apost. 1. 3, c. 15,16. 



384 Of the Ministfalim 

ChnpVIl. without it upon any necessity^^. And this, though at 
" first indulged only upon occasion, came in a little time 

afterwards to be the general practice : insomuch that 
for the Presbyter to anoint in Baptism became the ordi- 
nary method: and the Bishop, when he contlrmed, had 
nothing to do but to impose his hands, except by chance 
now and then to apply the Chrism to a person that bj 
accident had missed of it in his Baptism^^ 

And this 1 take to be the Unction intended in the 
form we are now speaking of, as well for the reasons a- 
hove mentioned, as because this, of the two, appears to 
have been the most ancient and universal, and so the 
most likely to be retained by aur Reformers. Bucer 
indeed prevailed for the leaving out the use both of thi^ 
and the Chrisome at the next review ; not because he 
did not think them of sufficient antiquity or standing, or 
of good use and edification enough where they were du- 
ly observed ; but because he thought they carried more 
show of regard and reverence to the mysteries of our 
religion than men really retained ; and that consequent- 
ly they tended to cherish superstition in the minds of 
people, rather than religion and true godliness^^ 
The recep- Vll- But to return to our own office : the child, being 
lion of the now baptized, is become a member of the Christian 
child into Church, into which the Minister (as a Steward of God's 
church, family) doth solemnly receive it ; and, for the clearer ma- 
nifestation that it now belongs to Christ, solemnly signs 
The anti- it in the forehead with the sign of the Cross. For the 
quity and better Understanding of which primitive ceremony, we 
thrsi"nof ^^y observe that it was an ancient right for masters 
the Crois- and generals to mark the foreheads or hands of their ser- 
vants and soldiers with their names or marks, that it 
might be know^n to whom they did belong; and to this 
custom the angel in the Revelation is thouo^ht to allude*'': 
Hurt not the earth., c^*c. till zoe have sealed the servants of 
cur God in their foreheads : thus again ^°, the retinue of 
the Lamb are said to have his Father\? name written in 
their foreheads. And thus, lastly, in the same chapter, 
as Christ's flock carried his mark on their fore- 
heads, so did his great adversary the beast sign his ser- 

66 Concil. Arau?ican. Can. 1. AntiqniHes, book 12. chap. 2- voF. 

Ooncil. Carthag. 4. Can. 36 Con- iv. page 379, &:c. 
cil. Tolefan. 1. Can. 20. But see 67 Concil. Araus. C.in. 1. 

this proved more at/large in Dr. 68 Buceri.Script. Angl. p. 478.- 

, Hammond de Confirmatione, cap. 69 Chap. vii. ver. 3. 

2. sect. 3, 4. and Mr. Bingham's 70 Chap. »iv. 1. 



of Public Baptism of Infants* 383 

Vants there also^M If any rywn shall receive the. mark of ^^' ^^' 
the beast in his forehead or in his hand, ^c. Now that the 
Christian Church might hold some analogy with those 
sacred applications, she conceived it a most significant 
ceremony in Baptism, (which is our first admission into 
ihc Christian profession,) that all her children should 
be signed with the cross on their foreheads, signifying 
thereby their consignment up to Christ ; whence it is of- 
ten called by the ancient fathers, the Lord''s Signet^ and 
Christ's SeaL 

And it is worth observing, that this mark or sign 
seems to have been appropriated from the very begin- 
ning to some great mystery : the Israelites could over- 
come the Amalekites no longer than Moses by stretch- 
ing out his amis continued in the form of a Cross^*; 
which undoubtedly prefigured that our salvation was to 
be obtained through the means of the Cross : as was al- 
so farther signified by God's commanding a Cross (for 
that Grotius supposes to be the mark understood) to be 
set upon those who should be saved from a common 
destruction'^^. 

But to come nearer : when our blessed Redeemer had 
expiated the sins of the world upon the Cross, the prim- 
itive disciples of his religion (who, as Minucius Felix af- 
firms, did not worship the Cross) did yet assume that 
figure as the badge of Christianity : and long before 
material crosses were in use, Tertullian tells us, that 
" upon every motion, at their going out or coming in, at 
" dressing, at their going to bath, or to meals, or to bed, 
" or whatever their employment or occasions called 
" them to, they were worit \yrontem Crucis signaculo ter- 
" ere] to mark, or (as the word signifies) to wear out their 
" foreheads with the sign of the Cross ; adding, that this 
" was a practice which tradition had introduced, custom 
*• had confirmed, and which the present generation re* 
" ceived upon the credit of that which went before 
" them^V It is pretended indeed by our adversaries, 
that this is only an authority for the use of this sign up- 
on ordijiary occasions, and gives no countenance for us- 
ing it in Baptism. Suppose we should grant this ; it 
would yet help to show from some other passages in the 
same author, that the sign was also used upon religious 

71 Verse 9. 74 Tert. de Coron. Mil. c. 3. 

72 Exod. xvii. 11, IZx 13. pa?. lUS. A. B. 

73 Ezek. ix. 4. 

A A a 



3SC Of the Minis IratUfi 

Chap. VII. accounts. Thus, in his book concerning the Resurrec-^ 
. (ion of the Fleshy shewing how instrumental the body is 

to the salvation of the soul, he has this expression f 
*' The flesh is washed, that the soul may be cleansed ; 
** the flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated ; 
** the flesh is signed, that the soul may be fortified ; the 
" flesh is overshadowed by the imposition of hands, that 
** the scul may be enlightened by the Spirit of God ; 
" the flesh is fed on the Body and Blood of Christ, that 
" the soul may receive nourishment or fatness from 
"God'^V Thus again, in another place, showing how 
the Devil mimicked the holy sacraments in the heathen 
mysteries ; " He baptizeth some," saith he, " as his faith- 
" ful believers ; he promises them forgiveness of their 
^^ sins after Baptism, and so initiates them to Mithra, and 
''there /if signs his soldiers in their foreheads, (^c.''®" Now 
here is plainly mention made of.9?gmngor marking //ic 
Jlesh, and signirig too in the forehead., even in the celebra- 
tion of religious mysteries ; and we know no sign they 
so religiously esteemed, but what Tertullian had in the 
other place mentioned, viz. the sign of the Cross, I will 
I not indeed be certain, but that the signing in both these 

places may refer to the Cross which was made upon the 
forehead, when they were anointed in Confirmation : 
but still this proves that crossing on the forehead was used 
upon feligious, as well as ordinary occasions ; that it was 
used particularly at Confirmation,and therefore it is high- 
ly probable it was used also in Baptisms since they who 
used it upon every slight occasion, and made it a constant 
part of the solemnity in one office, would not omit or 
kave it out in another, where the use of it was full as 
proper and significant. We have gained so much 
therefore from Tertullian's authority, that the use of 
the Cross, even in religious offices, was, in his time, a 
known rite of Christianitjr. This will gain an easier be- 
lief to a passage among the works of Origen, where there 
is express mention of some, who were signed toitk the 
, Cross at their Baptism'''^, and better explain what is meant 

75 Caro abluitur, lit aninoa em- 76 Tingnit et ipse qoosdam, uf- 

aculetiir ; caro unguitur, ut ani- iqne credentes et fidelps puos ; 

ma consecretnr ; caro signatur, ut expjationem delictorum de Lava- 

et anima muniatur ; caro manns cro repromittit.et sic a«lhuc initiat 

imposilione adumbratur, ut et an- Mithree. Signet illic in frontibuf 

ioua Spiritu illuminetur ; caro Cor- milites suo?. Tertu], de Prsescr. 

pore et Sanguine Chrieti Tescituf, adv. Heretic, c. 40. 

ut et anima de Deo saginetur. 77 Honi, 2. in Ps. xxxviii. par- 

Tertul. de Resarrect. Carnis, c.8. 1 . p.^ 299. 



rf Puhlit Baptism of Infants, 387 

hy St. Cyprian, when he tells us, that " those who ob- ^^^' 0^' 
•'* tain mercy of the Lord are signed on their forehead'^^^'^ ' 
and that '* the forehead of a Christian is sanctified with 
" the sign ofGod'^.'^'' But farther, in Lactantius, we find 
that Christians are described by those that have been 
marked upon the forehead with the Cross^^. Again St. Ba- 
sil tells us, that *' an ecclesiastical constitution had pre- 
*' vailed from the Apostles' days, that those who belie- 
" ved in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ should be 
signed with the sign o^ the Cross^^J'^ St. Chrysostora a- 
gain makes it the glory of Christians, that " they carry 
"in their foreheads the sign of the Cr055®'." x4nd lastly, 
St. Austin, speaking to one who was going to be baptized, 
tells him% that he was "that day to be signed with the 
." sign of the Cross^ with which all Christians zcere signed^{i,e. 
at their Baptism.) 

I need not surely (after this long detail) instance in 
the writings of any other of the fathers, who frequently 
used being signerf in the forehead for being baptized, I 
shall only add this remark; that the first Christian Em- 
peror, Constantine the Great, had his directions from 
heaven to make the Cross the great banner in his wars, 
with this motto on it, *e» tcut(u vUx^ by this sign thou shall 
overcome^'^. And sure we cannot suppose that our bles- 
sed L^ord would, by so immediate a revelation, counte- 
nance such a rite as this already used in the Church, if 
he had resented it before as superstitious and unwarrant- 
able. And we may add, that we ought not to be too 
petulant against that which the Holy Spirit has some- 
times signalized by very renowned miracles ; as those 
who consult the ecclesiastical histories of the best author- 
ity cannot but be convinced. In a word, when any are 
received into the society of our religion, it is as lawful to 
declare it by a Sign^ as by Words, And surely there is 
no signature so universally known to be the mark of a 
Christian as that of the Cross^ which makes St. Paul put 
the Cross for Christianity itself^*: the belief of a crucit 
fied Saviour being the proper article of the Christian 
faith, distinguishing the professors of it from all other 
kinds of religion in the world. 

78 De Unit. Eccles. p. 116, 83 Aug. de Catech. Radibus 

79 De Laps. p. 122. c, 20. 

80 Lib. iv. c. 26. 84 Buseb. de Vita Constant. 1, 

81 De Sp. Sanct. c, 27. torn, i. c. 28, 29. p, 422- 

ii. p. «10. D. 85 1 Cor. i. 17, 18. Gal v. 11. 

82 Cbrys. in PBalm. ex. Phil. iii. 1??. 



S88 Of the Ministration 

Chap. VII. §. 2. There were anciently indeed, in the primitive 
_ Church, two several signings or markings with the Cross^ 

whv made ^*^' ^"^ before Baptism, as vvas ordered by the first Lit- 
affef Bap- "rgy of King Edward, as I have already observed in 
^ism. page 368 ; the other afterwards, which was used at Con- 

firmation, and which (as I shall show hereafter) was al- 
so prescribed by the same book of King Edward. 

In a word, the Cross in Baptism, till of late years, has 
been so inoffensive to the most scrupulous minds, that e- 
ven Bucer could find nothing indecent in it, if it vvas u- 
sed and applied with a pure mind. He only disappro- 
ved of directing the form that was used at the imposing 
of it, to the child itself, who could not understand it. 
For which reason he wished it might be turned into a. 
Prayer^^ The reviewers of our Liturgy did not indeed 
exactly comply with him ; but however they have or- 
dered the form to be spol^en to the congregation, arid 
farther, to remove all manner of scruple, have deferred 
the singing with it till after the child is baptized, that 
so none may charge us with making the ceremony es- 
sential to Baptism, which is now finished before the 
Cross is made, and which is esteemed in case of extrem- 
ity, not at all deficient, where it is celebrated without it. 
Why made §. 3. The forehead is the seat of blushing and shame ; 
upon the for which reason the child is to be signed with the Cross 
forehead. ^^ ^^^^ ^-a^ii of him, in token thai hereafter he shall not be 
ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, d^c. 

Sect. IV. Of the concluding Exhortations atid Prayers. 

The Ex- L I^HE holy rile being thus finished, it is not decent 

hortation. to turn our backs upon God immediately, but that we 

should complete the solemnity by thanksgiving and 

prayer: and therefore, that we may do both these with 

due understanding, the Minister teaches us in a serious 

exhortation, what must be the subjects pf our praises 

and petitions. 

TheLord»s H. And sin^ce (as we have already hinted'^) the Lord's 

Prayer, Prayer was prescribed by our Saviour to his disciples 

as a badge of their belonging to him ; it can never be 

more reasonable or proper to use it than now, when a 

new member and disciple is admitted into his church. 

And therefore, whereas, in other offices, this prayer is. 

86 Buceri Script. Anglicaa. p. 87 Introdoctron, page 4, 
479. 



of Public Baptism of Infant^. ^ 3£9 

generally placed in the beginning, it is here reserved Sec. IV. 
till after the child is baptized, and received solemnly "" " 
into the church ; when we can more properly call God 
Our Father, with respect to the Infant, who is now by 
Baptism made a memt>er of Christ, and more peculiarly 
adopted a child of God. And this is exactly conforma- 
ble to the primitive Church ; for the Catechumens were 
never allowed to use this prayer, till they had first made 
themselves sons by Regeneration in the waters of Bap- 
tism^^ For which reason this prayer is frequently, by 
ancient writers, called Tue Prayer of the Regenerate^ or 
Believers, as being, properly speaking, their privilege 
and birthright*^ 

in. After this follows a Prayer, wherein we first give ^^^^ CoU 
God thanks for affording this child the benefits of Bap- ^^ * 
tism ; and then pray for his grace to assist it in the 
v,'hole course of its life*. 

iV. And lastly, because nothing tends more directly The Appli. 

to the securino^ of holiness and relie^ion than a conscien- f^**^" Vj^ 

r r 1 ■ r- itP • 1 J the Godfa- 

tious periormance of this vow of Baptism, here are ad- ^^ers. 

ded endeavours to our prayers for the fulfilling thereof. 

Iti the first ages, when those of discretion were baptized, 

the Applications were directed to the persons themselves, 

(as they are in our office of Baptism for those of riper 

years :) but since children are now most commonly the 

subjects of Bviptism, who are not capable of admonition, 

here is a serious and earnest exhortation made to the 

sureties. 

§. 2. Which, if it be well considered, will show how The ill 

base it is for any to undertake this trust merely in compli- practice of 

ment ; how absurd to put little children (whose bond is uofirpe?- 

not good in human courts) upon this weighty office ; and sons for 

also how ridiculous for those who have taken this duty sureties,' 

upon them, to think they can shake off this charge a- 



♦ Note, that this prayer, with the foregoing exhortation 
and Lord's Prayer, were first added to the second book of 
King tidvvard ; his first book ordering the Application to the 
G )dfathers, &c. to be used as soon as the child was baptj- 
tized. 

88 Cbrys. Horn. 2. in 2 Cor. in Append, ad torn. v. 
torn. iii. pae^. 553. lin. 21, 22. 89 Elx» n^j-av, Ghrjs» Horn.. 

Aug. Horn. 29. de Verb. Apost.et 10. in Coloes. torn. iv. p. 142. 

Serm. 59. c 1. torn. v. col. 343. lin. 41. Oratio Fideliara, Augost. 

D. et Serm. 65. c. 1. «o]. 119. C. Enchirid. c. 71. 



390 Of ih% Mimstratian 

kpp, L to gain, and assign it over to the parents. But yet this is 
* *'^'"^^'^ - frequently the custom of this licentious age, and the 
" chief occasion of many people's falling into evil princi- 
ples and wicked practices which might easily be pre- 
vented, if the sureties would do their duty, and labour 
to fit their God-children for Confirmation, and bring 
them to it; which therefore the Minister is in the last 
place to advertise the sureties of*: for till the child by 
this means enters the bond in his own name, the sureties 
must answer for all miscarriages through their neglect; 
whereas as soon as the child is confirmed, the sureties 
are freed from that danger, and discharged from all 
but the duty of charity. 

The office being thus ended, the first Common Pray- 
er piously adds. And so let the Congregation depart in th&- 
^ame oj the Lord, 



APPENDIX L TO CHAP. VII. 

Of the Ministration 0/ PRIVATE BAPTISM 
o/CtilLDKKN in HousEsf. 

Sect. L Of the Rubrics before the Office. 

JuctfoT^" I^ ^^^^ ^"^^ ^^^ following office, I am only to take no- 
tice of such particulars, as are different from the Order 
for Public Baptism of Infants. Where either of these 
therefore agree with the former, I must refer my reader 
to the foregoing chapter, designing this and the foU 



* In all the former books this advertisement concerning 
Confirmation was only a rubric directing the Minister to 
command that the chitdren be brought to the Bishop, ^c. But 
in the last review it was turned into a form to be spoken ta 
the people. 

t The Title of this office in both books of King Edward 
and that of Queen Elizabeth was this : Of them that be bap- 
tized in private houses^ in time of necessity. To which were 
added upon King James's accession the following words : by 
the Minister of the Parish^ or any other lawful Minister that 
can be procured. And so it continued till the Restoration, 
when it was altered inte the title that stands above. 



oj Private Baptism ofChildreni 591 

lowing Appendix only for such things as I have had no Sec. H. 
opportunity of mentioning before. ~ iT^T* 

§. 1. The first rubric requires, that The Curates of ^l^"^^^' 
every Parish shall often admonish the People^ that they defer not to be 
not the Baptism of their children longer than the first or long defer- 
second Sunday next after their births or other holy day Jail- ^^^' 
ing between, unless upon a great and reasonable cause to be 
xipproved by the Curate. 

§. 2. And that also they shall waim them^ ihat^ without ^^^^!^ ^' 
like great cause and necessity, they procure not their child- adminis- 
ren to be baptized at home in their houses. But when need ttred at 

4hall compel them so to do, then Baptism shall be adminis- J'f>ra«» ex- 
,/,./.,. •' cept in ca- 

tered on this jashwn. ses of ne- 

The moderation of our Church, in this respect, is ex- cessity. 
actly conformable to the ancient practice of the primitive 
Christians; who (though in ordinary cases they would 
never admit that Baptism should be administered with- 
out the presence of the congregation) yet had so 
great a care that none should die unbaptized, that in 
danger of death they allowed such persons, as had not 
gone through all their preparations, to be baptized at 
home; but laying an obligation upon them to answer 
more fully if God restored them^. 

Sect, 11. Of the proper Minister of Private Baptism, 

When necessity requires that Baptism be privately Lay-Bap- 
administered, the Minister of the Parish, or {in his absence) *'«!» allow- 
some other lawful Minister, is to be procured. This is an chur^h"at 
order which was not made till after the conference at thefir^tRe- 
Hampton^Court, upon the accession of King James I. to formation. 
the throne. In both Common Prayer Books of King Ed- 
ward,and in that of Queen Elizabeth,th€ rubric was only 
this : First, let them that be present call upon God for his 
grace, and say the Lord^s Prayer, if the time will suffer-^ 
and then one of them shall name the child, and dip him in 
the water, or pour water upon him, saying these words, N. / 
baptize thee, 4^c, Now this, it is plain from the writings 
and letters of our first Reformers, was originally design- 
ed to commission Lay-Persons to baptize in cases of 
necessity : being founded upon an error which our Re- 
formers had imbibed in the Romish Church, concerning 
the ipipossibility of salvation without the Sacrament of 
Baptism : which therefore being in their opinion so ab- 

90 Cenal. Laodicen. Can. 47. torn. i. col, 1505. A, 



302 Of ike Mimilralion 

App. I.^to solutely necessary, they chose should be administered 

^'^^'^' 1^ by any body that was present, in cases of extremity, 

But after- ^''^^^^^'^ ^^^3" ^"J should die without it. 
wards pro- But afterwards when they came to have clearer no- 
hibiied by tions ofthe Sacraments, and perceived how absurd it 
both hous- ^y^g to confine the mercies of God to outward means; 
vocation. ^^^ especially to consider that the salvation ofthe child 
might be as safe in God's 'mercy, without any Baptism, 
as with one performed by persons not duly commission- 
ed to administer it: when the governors ofthe Church, 
I say, came to be convinced of this, they thought it prop- 
er to explain the rubric above mentioned, in such a man- 
ner as should exclude any private person from admmis- 
tering of Baptism. Accordingly when, some articles 
were passed by both houses of Convocation, in the year 
1575, the Archbishop and Bishops (who had power '^nd 
aiithoi'ity in their several diocesses to resolve all doubts 
concerning, the manner how to understand, do, and execute 
the things contained in the Book of Common Pray tr^^) unan- 
imously resolved, that CT;e?i Private Baptism, in case ofne- 
cessity, was only to be administered by a lawful Minister 
or Deacon ; and that all other persons should be inhibi- 
ted to intermeddle with the ministering of Baptism pri- 
vately, as being no part of their vocation*. Bishop 



* This article here being very remarkable, I shall here 
set it down in the words ofthe record, 

Twelfthly, And whereas some ambiguity and doubt has a- 
risen amongst diverse^ by what persons Private Baptism is tn be 
administered ; Jorasmuch as by the Book of Common Prayer 
allowed by statute, the Bishop of the Diocess is to expound and 
resolve all such doubts as shall arise concerning' the manner 
how to understand, do, and execute the things contained in the 
said book ; it is now by the said Archbishop and Bishops ex- 
pounded and resolved, and every of them doth expound and re- 
solve, that the said Private Baptism, in case of necessity, is 
only to be ministered by a lawful Minister or Deacon, called to 
be present for that purpose and by none other. And that every 
Bishop in his Diocess shall take order that this exposition of 
the said doubt shall be published in writing before the first day 
of May next coming, in every Parish Church of his Diocess in 
this Province ; and thereby all other persons shall be inhibited 
to intermeddle with the ministry of Baptism privately, it being 
no part of their vocation^-'^. 

91 See (he Preface concerning i. p. 447. and Mr. Collier's Hi*-' 
the Service ofthe Church, tory, vol. ii. page .552. 

92 Bishop Gibson's Codex,vol. 



q/ Private Baptism of Ckildrcn, " SSS 

iSibson tells us, this article was not pubiished in the St ^. «« 
-printed copy : but whether on the same account that ' 

the fifteenth article was left out, (which was, that Mar- 
riage might be solemnized at any time of the year, pro- 
vided the banns were duly pubiished, afed no impedi- 
men objected,) -oiz, because disapproved by the crown, 
he cannot certainly telP^; but it seems by the account 
that Mr. Collier gives us, as if it was published : for after 
all the articles, he only remarks from the journal of the 
Convocation, that the Queen refused to assent to the last 
article, (?. e. the fifteenth above mentioned.) for which 
reason, saith he, it was not published with the rest®*, 
which seems plainly to imply that all the rest were pub- 
lished. However, whether it was published or not, the 
hare publishing of it in venting in every Parish-Church of 
roery Diocese in tht Province of Canterbury^ by order of 
the Bishops, who had undoubted authority to ex- 
plain the rubric, was sufficient to restrain the sense of the 
rubric in such a manner as should inhibit all persons 
not ordained from presuming to intermeddle with the 
administering of Baptism. But besides this, Mr. Collier 
tells us, that notwithstanding none but the Archbishop 
and Bishops are mentioned for their concurrence in 
these articles, yet in the Archbishop's mandate for the 
publication, they are said to be agreed, settled, and 
subscribed by both houses of Convocation^*. So that 
from this time, notwithstanding the rubric might contin- 
ue in the same words, it is certain it gave no licence or 
permission to Lay-Persons to baptize. On the contra- 
ry, the Bishops, in their visitations, censured the prac- 
tice, and declared that the rubric inferred no such lati- 
itude^*. 

However, upon the accession of King James L to the 
throne, the matter was again debated in the Hampton- 
Court conference'^ : the result of v/hich w^as, that instead 
of those words. Let them that he present call upon God, tee- 
the rubric should be. Let the lawful Minister^ and them 
that be present, ^c» And instead of what follows, viz. 
Then one of them shall name the child, and dip him in the 
Toater, or pour water upon him, saying; it was ordered, 
that, the child being named by some one thai is present^ the 

93 See his Codex as before. count oF theConference at Hampy 

94 Mr. Collier's Ecclesiastical ton-Court. 

History, as before. 97 ibid, or Collier'* Ukioryi 

95 Ibid, and page 551 vol. ii. page 6tSf» 
06 Se« Bishop Barlow'i Ac- 

Bub 



59<l Of the Ministraitan ^ 

^PP* ^- *^ said lawful Minister shall dip it in water^ (^c* And thtis 
'^ the rubric stood till the review at the Restoration, when 
~ it only underwent some small variation ; the iMnister of 
the Parish being first named as the most proper person to 
be sent for, if not out of the way ; but in his absence any 
other lawful Minister is to he called in that can he procured. 
The Church only provides that none but a Minister, or 
one duly ordained, presume to intermeddle in it: well 
knowing that the persons, by whom Baptism is to be 
administered, are plainly as positive a part of the institu- 
lion,as any thing else relating to that ordinance ; and con- 
sequently that the power of administering it must belong 
to those only whom Christ hath authorized by the insti- 
tution. It is true, there are some few of the primitive 
writers, who allow Laymen to baptize in case of necessi- 
ty^^: but there are more and earlier of the fathers,^who 
disallow that practice^^: and upon mature consideration 
of the several passages, it will generally be found that 
these latter, for the most part, speak the judgment of the 
Church, whilst the former only deliver their private o- 
pinion. And therefore certainly it is a great presump- 
tion for an unordained person to invade the ministerial 
office without any warrant. What sufficient plea the 
Church of Rome can pretend, for suffering even Mid- 
wives to perform this sacred rite, I am wholly ignorant. 
For as to the pretence of the child's danger, we may be 
sure that its salvation may be as safe in God's mercy 
without any Baptism, as with such a one as he has neith- 
er commanded nor made any promises to : so that where 
God gives no opportunity of having Baptism administer- 



* The second rubric that I have given above in page 390, 
was also then altered; the old one being worded thus : Jlnd 

also they shall warn them that, without great cause and necessity, 
they baptize not children at home in th'ir houses : and when 
great need shall compell them so to do, that then they miniater 
it on this fashion. 

98 Tertiil. de Bapt. c. 17. p. priani Opera. Hillarii, alias Am^ 
231. A. Concil. Elib. Can. 38. bros. Com. in Ephes. 4. Basil, ut 
Hieron. Dial. a<lv. Luciftr. c. 4. supra. Chrysost. Horn. 61, lom. 

99 ignat. ad Srnyru,*. 8. Const, vii. p. 423. Vid. et Baisamom. ia 
Ap. 1. '8s c. 46. Cyprian, et Fir- Can. 19. Concil. Sardicens. ap. 
ntiiiiari, apud Basil. Ep. ad Am- Bevereg. Annot. in Cfin» Apost. 
phiioch. c. l.Vide et Cyprian. Ep. p. 201. 

7t>. et Concil. Carthajj. inter Cy- 



of Private Baptism of Children. 393 

ed by a person duly commissioned, it seems much better Chap. VII. 
to leave it undone. — — — 

Ifit be asked, whether Baptism, when performed by 
an unordained person, be, in the sense of our Church, 
valid and effectual ? 1 answer, that, according to the best 
judgment we can form from her public acts and offices, it 
is not. For she not only supposes^ that a child will 
die unbaptized, if the regular Minister does not come 
time enough to baptize it; but in the abovesaid determi- 
nation of tlie Bishops and Convocation, she expressly 
declares, that even in cases of necessity, Baptism is only 
to be administered by a lawful Minister or Deacon, and 
directly inhibits all other persons from intermeddling 
with it, though ever so privately^ as being no pari of their 
vocation: a plain intimation that no Baptism, but what is 
administered by persons duly ordained, is valid or effec- 
tual. For if Baptism administered by persons not duly 
ordained be valid and sufficient to convey the benefits 
of it, why should such persons be prohibited to adminis- 
ter it in cases of real necessity, when a regular Minister 
cannot be procured? It would surely be better for the 
child to have it from any hand, if any hand could give it, 
than that it should die without the advantage of it. 
Our Church therefore, by prohibiting all from intermed- 
dling in Baptism but a lawful Minister, plainly hints, 
that when Baptism is administered by any others, it 
conveys no benefit or advantage to the child, but only 
brings upon those who pretend to administer it the guilt 
of usurping a sacred office : and consequently that per- 
sons so pretendedly baptized (if they live to be sensible 
of their state and condition) are to apply to their lawful 
Minister or Bishop for that holy Sacrament, of which 
they only received a profanation before.* 



* ThU assertion of Wheatly, that no Baptism is valid unless it be ad- 
ministered by *'a lawful Minister^'^'^ is in direct opposition to the prac- 
tice of the Chnirch of England, and the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in America. In both, no other roinip'ry is considered as laxvjul but 
such as is derived from Bishops, who are looked upon as the successors 
of the Apostles,and cons«^quently as the only persons who have inthf.m- 
selves^ a right to baptize ; tlie commi:«sion to baptize having betn giv- 
en by our Saviour only to the Apostles, Matt, xxviii. 19. Yet in both, 
persons who have not been baptized by a lawful Ministry, are not only 
received to the Sacrament of the Lord^s Supper, and thereby recogni- 
zed as members of the Christian Church, but are also admitted to Ho-, 

1 Canon LXIX. 



3af> Of Hit Ministratim 

App. I. ♦© Sect. IK. Of the Service to be performed at the Mmistra- 
.• ' <«oM of Private Baptism, 

XlAVING said what I thought was necessary in rela- 
tion to the Minister of Private Baptism, I have nothing 
to do now but to run through the office, and show how- 
well it is adapted for the Ministration of it. 

First then, the Minister of the Pefrish, (or, in his ab- 
What sence, any other lawful Minister that can be procured,) 
u'^^^f"/". with them that are present, is to call upon God, and say 
the Bap- '^*^ Lord^s Prayer, and so many of the Collects appointed to 
tism of the he said before in the form of Public Baptism, as the time and 
^hild. present exigence will suffer. 

And here 1 humbly presume to give a hint to my bre- 
thren, that the Prayer appointed for the Consecration 
of the Water be never omitted. For besides the propri- 
ety of this prayer to beg a blessing upon the administra- 
tion in general, I have already showed how necessary a 
part of the office of Baptism the primitive Christians es- 
teemed the Consecration of the Water. 
TJie Water §• % And here it is to be noted, that by a Provincial 

andVessel, 

|n which ' — ' ■_ — ■ — — - 

the child is . . .,,.-.. 

baptize() 1y orders. What is required of persons thus irregularly baptized, in or- 
how to be der to be received to communion, is, that they be confirmed whenever 
iiisnosedof. the presence of the Bishop shall give them an opportunity. The Bi?h- 
' : ' op by the solemn "laying on of hands" ratifies and confirms the bap- 

Usm^ and thus supplies what was wanting to its regularity. The dis- 
tinction between a valid baptism and a regular baptism ought there- 
fore to be constantly kept in view. A baptism is admitted by the 
Church to be valid when it is administered, 1st, with water, and 2d, 
with the form prescribed by our Saviour, in or into the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. A baptism is regular 
as well as valid, when in addition to these requisites it is administered 
3dly,by a lawful minister. But if the Bishop's consent,expreased by the 
laying on of his hands be requisite to constitute a lawful ministry, why 
may not the Bishop's ratification of a baptism by the same Apostolick 
sign of the laying on of hands, remove its previous irregularity? 
' In this country, where the tendency is so strong to undervalue and 
neglect baptism, more caution perhaps ought to be observed in ascertain- 
ing whether water has been used, and whether the words of the bap- 
tisfnal formulary have been observed. The sect of Universalists have a 
practice of dedicating their infants without baptism, which uninformed 
persons have mistaken for the Sacrament of admission into the Christian 
Church ; and it is one of the unhappy effects of the prevalence of the 
Unitarian or Socinian heresy, that some of its teachers, there is reason 
to believe, have omitted the form of baptism prescribed by our Saviour, 
In both tbese ca?es the language of Wheatly is strictly applicable: 
♦'Persons so pretendedly baptized (if they li?e to be sensible of their 
state and condition) are to apply to their lawful Minister or Bishop 
for that holy Sacrattent of which they onlj received a profanation be- 



of Private Baptisxtt of Childreri, i397 

Constitution of our own Church, made in the year 1236, Sec. H|, 
(the twenty-sixth of Henry III.) which is still in force, ^ 

neither Water nor Vessel^ that has been used in the ad- 
ministration of Private Baptism, is afterwards to be ap- 
plied to common uses. But, out of reverence to the Sa- 
crament, the Water is to be poured into the fire, or else 
to be carried to the Church, to be put to the Water in 
tlie Baptistery or Font : and the vessel also is to be burnt, 
or else to be appropriated to the use of the Church^, per- 
haps for the washing of the church-linen, as Mr. Lin- 
wood supposes^ The latter of which orders, if I am 
not misinformed, the late good Bishop Beveridge oblig- 
ed his parishioners to comply with, whilst he was Minis- 
ter of St. Peter's in Cornhill. And as to the former, it 
is certainly very unseemly, that Water once blessed in 
50 solemn a manner, and used and applied to so sacred 
a purpose, should either be put to common use, or 
thrpwn away irreverently into the kennel or sink. And 
I wonder our Church has made no provision, how the 
water used in the font at church should be disposed of. 
In the Greek Church particular care is taken, that it ne- 
ver be thrown into the street like common water, but 
poured into a hollow place under the Altar, (called 
QxXxTrihov or x<yvf?ov,) where it is soaked into the earth , 
or finds a passage'*. 

§. 3. But to return : the Minister having used as many The childf 
of the Collects appointed to be said in the form of Public {°^^ ^^P" 
Baptism, as the time and present exigence will suffer ; Affusioa 
the child being then named by some one that is present, only, 
the Minister is io pour Water upon it. All the old Com- 
mon Prayers say, he shall either dip it in the Water, or 
pour Water upon it : but Baptism in private being never 
allowed but when the child is weak, the rubric was prop- 
erly altered at the last review, and the order for dipping 
left out ; it being not to be supposed that the child in its 
sickness should be able to endure it. 

§. 4. After the child is baptized, it is farther ordered ^lie 
by our present Liturgy, that, all kneeling down, the Min- Jljg aft*r ' 
ister shall give thanks unto God, in part of the form that Baptism., 
is appointed to be used after the Administration of Public 
Baptism: and so the service at that time is concluded, 

'«> 

2. Bishop Gibson's Codex, vol. 3 As cited by Mr. Johnson,ibid- 
^ page 435, and Johnson's Eccle- 4. Dr. Smith's Account of the 

siastical Laws, 1236. 10. Greek Ghnroh, page 114. 



398 Of the Ministration 

App. T to Sect. IV. Of the Service to be performed when the Child 
^''"P- ^" - is brought to Church. 

vate Bap- A HOUGH it is not to be doubted but that a child baptized 
tism to be in the manner above mentioned, is lawfully and sufficient^ 
certified to /^ baptized, and ought not to be baptized again ; yet never- 
\li\on^J!iT ^^^^^^ss^if the child, which is after this sort baptized, do af 
terwards terwards live, it is expedient (saith the rubric) that it be 
by the brought into the church, to the intent^ that if the Minister of 
Minister. ^^^ ^^^g Parish did himself baptize the child, the congrega-. 
lion may be certified of the true form of Baptism by himpri' 
vately before used : in which case he is to certify them, that 
according to the due and prescribed order of the Church at 
such a time, and in sueh a place, before diverse witnesses he 
baptized this child. 
Or else to §• ^' '^'*' i^ the child were baptized by any other lawful 
he exsim\n- Minister, then the Minister of the Parish where the child 
ed and in- loas born or christened,is to examine and try zohether the child 
before^the' ^^ Id'^f^Hy baptized or no : in which case, if those that bring 
con^rega- ^'^W ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ church do answer that the same child is aU 
tioni ready baptized ; then the Minister is to examine them far- 

ther. By whom and in whose presence it was baptized, and 
whether it was baptized with Waler^ and in the name of 
the Trinity, which are always to be esteemed essential 
parts of the Sacramentt. And if the Minister shall find 

* In King Edward's and Queen Elizabeth's books, the for- 
mer part of this and the latter part of the next rubric were 
joined together, and made but one between them; to the in- 
tent that the Priest may examine, and try whether the childy 
^"C. All between was first added in King James's book after 
the conference at Hampton-Court, except that the particu- 
lar form of certification, in case that the Minister of the same 
parish baptized it himself, was inserted at the Restoration. 

t In the Common Prayers of King Edward and Queen E- 
Hzabeth there were two questions asked, which are now o- 
mitted, viz, Whether they called upon God for grace and suc- 
cour in that necessity ? And, Whether they thought the child to 
he lawfully and perfectly baptized? Wiiich latter question 
was also continued quite down to the Restoration. The 
wordb, And because some things essential to the Sacrament may 
happen to be omitted throu<jrh fear or hast^ in such times of ex- 
tremity, ^c. were first added to King James's book, at which 
time the alteration was made to restrain Lay-Baptism, even 
in cases of extremity: and therefore these words cannot be 
urged to prove that the Church does not hold that the com- 
mission of the Administrator, as well as the matter and fornai, 
is of the essence of Baptism. 



of Private Baptism of Childreii, S99 

% the answer of such as bring the child, that all things were ^^^- ^^' 
done as they ought to be, tie is not to christen the child again, " ' 

but to receive him as one of the flock of true Christian 
people, . . , .| f 

§. 3. Which (after he has certified the people that all f^e X« 
was well done, and declared the benefits which the child 
has received by virtue of its Baptism) he is directed to do 
in much the same form as is appointed for Public Bap- 
tism. He reads the Gospel there appointed, and the 
Exhortation that follows it*. After which he repeats 
the Lord's Prayer, and the Collect that in the ofiice for 
Public Baptism follows the Exhortation. Then demand- 
ing the name of the child, he proceeds to examine the God- 
fathers and Godmothers, whether, in thename of the child^ 
they renounce the Devil and all his works, <^c. whether they 
believe all the articles of the Christian Faith, and whether 
ihey will obediently keep God^s will and commandments, i^c. 
For though the child was baptized without Godfathers 
at first, (when being more likely to die than to live, 
there seemed no occasion for any to undertake for its 



* The Exhortation in this office, as well as in the former, 
in all the old books ends with the repetition of the Lord's 
Prayer and Creed, after which also in the same books im- 
mediately follow the questions to the Godfathers and God- 
mothers ; and then the prayer. Almighty and everlasting 
God, ^c. (which in our present book stands before those 
questions.) This prayer being ended, the Priest was also 
formerly to use the Exhortation, Forasmuch as this child, ^c. 
and so forth as in Public Baptism ; which last words 1 be- 
heve only referred to the charge that was then to be given 
to the Godfathers, &c. to see the child confirmed, as is di- 
rected at the end of the public office of Baptism; though 
upon leaving out those words in our present form of Private 
Baptism, the Minister is not directed to give any such 
charge.* The form of receiving the child into the congre- 
gation, and signing it with the Cross, with the short Exhor- 
tation and Prayer that follow in our present books, do not 
seem to have been then used. But the first book of King 
Edward, after the form of stipulation, orders the Chrisom to 
be put upon the child, and the form to be used which i 
have already given upon the former office*. 

♦The charge to see the child confirmed is not left out of the,Amer- 
iflfan Liturgy ; and the Minister is directed to give it. Am. Ed. 

5 Page, 3#0. 



4(36 



Qfiht Minis Iralmilk 



A Dp. IT, to 
Chap. Vn. 



The roetli- 
6d of pro- 
ceeding if 
this Bap- 
tism be 
doubtfiil. 



future behaviour;) yet if it lives and is brouglu to 
church, it is fit there should be some to give security, 
that it shall be well educated and instructed. As soon 
as this is done therefore, the child is received into the 
congregation of Christy's flock, and is signed with the sign of 
the Crossi After which the service concludes with the 
Thanksgiving and Exhortation thj^t close the office for" 
Public Baptism. 

§. 4. After all there is a provision made, that if they 
tvhich bring the infant to churchy do make such uncer- 
tain answers to the PriesVs questions, as that it cannot ap- 
pear that the child was baptized zvith Water in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, (which art 
essential parts of Baptism;) then the Priest is to baptize it 
in the form before appointed for Public Baptism of Infants ; 
saving that, at the dipping of the child in the font, he is to 
use this form of words, If thou art not already baptized, 
l!?. I baptize thee, ^c. 



APPENDIX II. TO CHAP. VII. 

Of the Ministration of BAPTISM to such as 

are 0/ RIPER YEARS, and able 

to answer for themselves. 



This office 
Jiot added 
till the last 
re Tie '.V. 



The Introduction. 

W^E had no office in our Tjiturgy for tke Baptism of 
persons of Riper Years till the last review. For though 
in the infancy of Christianity adult persons were general- 
ly the subjects of Baptism; yet after the several nations 
that have been converted were become Christian, Bap- 
tism was always administered to children. So that when 
the Liturgy of the Church of England was first compiled, 
an office for Jdult Persons was not so necessary. But 
by the growth of Anabaplism and Quakerism, during 
the grand rebellion, the want of such an office was plain- 
ly perceived. For which reason the Commissioners ap- 
pointed to review the Common Prayer drew up this 
which I am now going to make some remarks upon, 
which is very useful for the baptizing of natives in our 
plantations, when they shall be converted to the faith, 
and of such unhappy children of those licentious secta- 



of Baptism to such as are of Riper Years, 401 

ries T just now named, as shall come to be sensible of ^^c. I. 
the errors of their parents. ' 

Sect. I. Of some Parliculars in this Form which differ 
from the others. 

Vv HEN any such persons as are of Riper Years are to A week's 
he baptized, timely JsFotice is to be given to the Bishop or ""^'^^jl'^ 
zohom he shall appoint for that purpose, a week before at the ^iJ-^j („ be 
least, by the parents, or some other discreet persons ; that so ^\ en lo 
due care may be taken for their examination^ zohether they theBi^hop, 
he sufficiently instructed in the principles of the Christian ^^^ ^ ^'' 
Religion ; and that they may be exhorted to prepare them- 
selves with Prayers and Fasting for the receiving of this ho- 
ly Sacrament^ which was always strictly enjoined to 
those that were baptized in the primitive Church^ 

§. 2. And if they shall be found ft, the Minister is to The form 
baptize them in the same manner and order as is ap- °^^^.f^|'-^ 
pointed before for the Baptism of Infants ; except that the f^jJ^the oc 
Gospel is concerning our Saviour's discourse with Nic- casion, 
odemus touching the necessity of Baptism, which is fol- 
lowed by an Exhortation suitable and proper. Again, 
the persons to be baptized being able to make the pro- 
fession that is requisite, in their own persons, the Minister 
is ordered to put the questions to them. There are God- 
fathers and Godmothers indeed appointed to be present, 
but they are only appointed as witnesses of the engage- 
ment, and undertake no more than to remind them here- 
after of the vow and profession which they made in 
their presence, and to call upon them to be diligent in 
instructing themselves in God's word, fee* the chief part 
of the charge being delivered at last by the Priest to the 
persons that are baptized. 

§. S. It is convenient that every person thus baptized "ersons so 
should be confirmed by the Bishop, so soon after his Baptism '''^P*'^^^ 
as conveniently may be, that so he may be admitted to the fi'^rmeVas" 
holy Communion^, soon as 

may be, 

*The two following rubrics were inserted in the American Prayer 
Book, between i. 3, and i. 4, providing: for cai5es more likely to occur 
in lbi9 country than in England, on account of the great neglect of 
Baptism. Aai. Ed. 

^'Whereas necessity may require the baptizing: of Adults in private 
houses, in consideration of extreme sickness ; the same is hereby al- 

6 Just. Mart. Apol.l.c. 79. p.ll6.Tertul. de Bapt.c 20. p.233.B„ 
C C C 



402 Of the CaUch 



sin. 



Chap.VIII. ^. 4, If an}! persons not baptized in their Infancy shall he 
~ brought to be baptized before they come to years of discretion 

between ^^ answer for themselves^ it may sujffice to use the office for 
their In- Public Baptism of Infants^ or {in case of extreme danger) 
fancj and the office for Private Baptism, only changing the word In° 
^ears of j-^j^i j'qj^ Child or Person, as occasion requires. 



lion, with . 

what form ^****^**'^'^™"*"^' ^ ' ■ ^ 

to be bap- 

tized. CHAP. VIIL 

OF THE CATECHLSM. 

The Introduction. 

Why the Since children, in their Baptism, engage to renounce 
Catechism the Devil and all his works, to believe in God, and serve 
next^^^ him ; it is fit that thej be taught, so soon as they are a- 
ble to learn, what a solemn vow, promise, and profes- 
sion they have made. Accordingly after the offices ap- 
pointed for Baptism, follows A Catechism, that is to say, 
An Instruction, to be learned of every Person, before he 
be brought to be confirmed by the Bishop, 
Catechism And this (i. e. the catechizing or instructing of Child- 
ofdivme ren and Others in the principles of Religion) is founded 
tion, and "po" fhe institution of God himself^, and is agreeable to 
universal the best examples in Scripture^. As to the Jews, Jose- 
practice. ph^g tells us, that they were above all things careful 
that their children might be instructed in the Law^ : to 



lowed in that case. And a convenient number of persons shall be as- 
sembled in the house where the Sacrament is to be performed. And 
in the exhortation, Well beloved, &c. instead of these words, come hi- 
ther desiring, shall be inserted this word, desirous.'^'' 

"If there be occasion for the Office of Infant B iptism and that of A- 
dults at the same time, the Mini-ter shall use the exhortation and one 
of the prayers next following in the office for Adults ; only, in the ex- 
hortation and pr yer, after the words, these Persons^ and these thy 
Servan's, addinsr, and these Infants. Then the Minister shall proceed 
to the questions to be den^anded in the cases respective!}'. After the im- 
mer-'ioii, or the pourinc of water, the prayer shall be as in <his service ; 
only, after the words, these Persons, shall be added, and these Infants. 
After which the remaining part of each service shall be used; first 
that for Adults, and lastly that for Infants. 

7 Dent. vi. 7. xxxi. 11, n. Acts xviii. 25. Rom. ii. 18. 2 
Prov. xxii. 6* John xxi. 15, 16. Tim. iii 15. 

Elphes. vi. 4. 9 Joseph. Antiq. 1. 4. c. 8. 

8 Gen. xviii. 19. Luke i. 4. 



9f the Catechism. 403 

which end they had in every village a person called the introduct. 
Instructor of Babes, (to Avhich St. Paul seems to allude^^) 
whose business it was (as we may gather from Buxtorf")^ 
to teach children the Law till they were ten years ot 
age, and from thence till they were fifteen, to instruct 
them in the Talmud. Grolius tells us^^ that at thirteen 
ihey were brought to the house of God in order to be 
publicly examined; and, being approved, were then de- 
clared to be Children of the Precept, i. e. they were obli- 
ged to keep the Law, and were from thenceforth an- 
swerable for their own sins. And whereas our Saviour 
submitted himself to this examination when" he was but 
tzcelve years old, (for that Grotius supposes was the end 
of his staying behind at Jerusalem, and offering himself 
to the doctors in the Temple ;) it was by reason of his 
extraordinary qualifications and genius, which (to speak 
in the Jews' own language) ran before the command* 

Fron) the Jews this custom was delivered down to the 
Christians, who had in every church a peculiar officer, 
called a Catechist^^, whose office it was to instruct the 
Catechumens in the fundamentals of religion, in some 
places for two whole years together ", besides the iriore 
solem catechizing of them during the forty days of Lent, 
preparatory to their Baptism at Easter^^ 

§. 2. There was indeed some difference between the Catechism 
persons who were catechized then, and those whom we of Child- 
instruct now. For then the Catechumens were gene- converts, 
rally such as were come to years of discretion ; but, as proper 
having been born of heathen parents, were not yet bap- ^^^^^ ^^P' 
tized. So that they catechized them before their Bap- [J^^™ ^^ ^* 
tism, as we also do those who are not baptized till they 
come to Riper Years. But as to the children of believ- 
ing parents, it is certain, that, as they were baptized in 
Infancy, they could not then, any more than now, be 
admitted Catechumens till after Baptism. Nor is there 
any necessity of doing it before, if so be that we take 
care that due instruction be given them, so soon as they 
are capable of receiving it. For our Saviour himself in 
that commission to his Apostles, Go ye, make disciples of 
all nations baptizing them, ^rc. teaching them to observe all 
things, whatsoever I have commanded you^% seems to inti- 

10 Rom. ii. 20. 10. p. STS. A. 1. 6. c. 3. 12. 20. 

11 Buxtorf. Sjnag. Judiac* 14 Concil. Ellb. Can. 42. torn. 
<^. 7. i. coJ. 975. B. 

12 In Loc, ii.ver. 42. IS Cyril. Catech. Mvstag, 1. 

13 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 5. c. IS Matt, xxviii. 19, 20^. 



404 Of the Catechism, 

iJhap.vlli. mate that converts may first be entered into his Church 
' bj Baptism, and afterwards instructed in the fundamen- 
tals of their religion. And indeed we read, that when 
S'u Basil was baptized, the Bishop kept him in his house 
sorattime afterwards, that he might instruct him in the 
things pertaining to eternal Iife^^ And a learned writer 
affirms, that all baptized persons in the primitive times 
(although they had been catechized beforejwere yet wont 
to stay several days after their Baptism, to be more ful- 
ly catechized in all things necessary to salvation^^ And 
therefore there is much more reason for us to catechize 
Children after Baptism, who are naturally incapable of 
being instructed beforehand. 

Sect. I. Of the Form and Contents of the Chatcchism. 

The Cate- ^g ^q i\\e form of our Catechism, it is drawn up after 
drawn up ^^'^ primitive manner by way of Question and Answer: 
bv vvay o^ SO Philip catechized the Eunuch*^, and so the persons 
Quezon to be baptized were catechized in the first ages, as I 
and^Au- Yi^^^^ already shown in discoursing of the antiquity of 
the Baptismal Vow^^ And indeed the very word Cat- 
The word ECHiSM implies as much ; the original Kun^xt'^' from 
^'u^^' wiience it is derived, being a compound of 'H;^^^, which 
what it si''- Signifies an Echo, or repeated sound. So that a Cate- 
nifies. ° chism is no more than an instruction first taught and in- 
stilled into a person, and then repeated upon the Cate- 
chist's ex smination. 
The con- ^. <2, As to the contents of our Catechism, it is not a 
&ents of It, jgp^p system or body of divinity, to puzzle the heads of 
' y<^ung beginners ; but only a short and a full explication 

of the Baptismal Vow. The primitive Catechisms in- 
deed (i. e, all that the Catechumens were to learn by 
heart before their Baptism and Confirmation) consisted 
of no more than the Renunciation, or the repetition of the 
Baptismal Vow, the Creeds and the Lord^s Prayer : and 
these together with the Ten Commandments, at the Ref- 
ormation, were the whole of ours. But it being after- 
>vards thought defective as to the doctrine of the Sacra- 
ments, (which in the primitive times were more largely 
explained to baptized persons^S) King James I. appoint- 

17 S. Araphiliochius ia Vit. S. 19 Acts viii. 37- 
Basil. 20 Pag-e 371 . 

18 Vicecomes de antiquis Rit- 21 Vide S. Cyril. Catech. 
ibus Baptismi, lib, 5» cap. 53. Mystag*. 



Of the Catechism. 40 o 

ed the Bishops to add a short and plain explanation of Sec. II. 

them, v\hich was done accordingly in that excellent ' 

form we see* : being penned by Bishop Overal, then 
Dean of Sl. Paul's and allowed by the Bishops^^ So 
that now (in ihe opinion of ihe best judges) it excels all 
Cater fiisins that ever were in the world ; being so short, 
that the youngest children may learn it by heart; and 
yet bo [uil, that it contains all things necessary to be 
known in order to salvation. 

In this also its excellency is very discernable, viz, that 
as ail persons are baptized not into SLuy particular church, 
but into the Catholic Church of Christ : so here they are 
not taught the opinion of this or any other particular 
Church or people, but what the whole body of Chris- 
tians all the world over agree in. If it may any where 
seem to be otherwise, it is the doctrine of the Sacra- 
ments : but even this is here worded with so much cau- 
tion and temper, as not to contradict any other particu- 
lar church ; but so as that all sorts of Christians, when 
they have duly considered it, may subscribe to every 
thing that is here taught or delivered. 

Sect. II. Of the Rubrics after the Catechism, 

I HE times now appointed for catechizing of children, Rubric I. 
are Sundays and Holy -days. Though Bishop Cosin ^^^''''ofte'^i 
observes, this is no injunction for doing it every Sunday to le Oper- 
and Holy-day, but only as often as need requires, accor- formed, 
ding to the largeness or number of children in the par- 



* In all the books from King James's times (when these 
questions and cnswers concerning the Sacrament were first 
inserted) to the last review, the answer to the question con- 
cerning the outward visible sign or form in Baptism^ was 
something different from what it is now, which, with the 
reason of it. I have already given in page 375. The 
answer also to the question. Why Irf ants are baptized, 4rc. 
was then a httle diflficultly, and more obscurely expressed, 
viz. Yes, they do perform them by their sureties, who promise 
and vow them both in their names, which^ when they come to 
age, themselves are bound to perform. 

22 Conference at Hampton- additional Notes, page 58. 
Court, page 43,and Dr. Niehoh's 



40C Of the, Catechism, 

Chap.VIII. ish^^ And it is true, that by the first book of King Ed- 

ward Vl, it was not required to be done above oiice in 

six weeks. But Bucer, observing that this was too sel- 
dom, and that in several churches in Germany there was 
catechizing three times a week, urged, in his censure 
upon this rubric, that the Minister should be required 
to catechize on every Holy-day^. Upon this exctption 
indeed the rubric was altered, but expressed notwith- 
standing in indefinite terms. So that Bishop Cosin was 
of the opinion^*, thj^t no obligation could be urged from 
hence, that the Minister should perform it on all Sun- 
days and Holy-days. And indeed by the Injunctions 
of Queen Elizabeth, it was only required upon exery Ho' 
ly-day, and every second Sunday (i. e, 1 suppose every o- 
ther Sunday) in the year^^ ; though it is plainly the de- 
sign of the present rubric, that it should be done as of- 
ten as occasion requires, i. e, so lung as there are any in 
the parish who are capable of instruction, and yei have 
not learned their catechism. And therefore, in many 
lar^e parishes, where the inhabitants are numerous, the 
Minister thinks himself obliged to catechize every Sun- 
day; whilst in parishes less populous, a few Sun- 
days in the year are sufficient to the purpose ; and 
therefore in such places the duty of Catechism is reser- 
ved till Lent, in imitation of an old custom in the primi- 
tive Church, which, as I have already observed, had 
their more solemn Catechisms during that season. But 
how to reconcile the fifty-ninth canon to this exposition 
of the rubric, I own I am at a loss; for that requires ev- 
ery Parson, Vicar, or Curate, upon every Sunday and Ho- 
ly-day^ to teach and instruct the youth and ignorant per- 
sons of his parish, in the Catechism set forth in the book 
of Common Prayer; and this too upon pain of a sharp 
reproof upon the first complaint, of suspension upon the 
second, and of excommunication till he be reformed, up- 
on the third. 
Why to be §• 2. The part of the service where this is to come in, 
perform- is after the second Lesson at evening Prayer : though in all 
^^h ^s*7- ^^^ Common Prayer Books till the last review, it was 
oiui Les- ordered to be done half an hour before Even-Song, i. e, 
son. (as the fifty-ninth canon explains it) the Minister should 

for half an hour, or more, before Evening Prayer, ex- 

2S See Dr. Nichols's addition- 25 In Dr. Nichols, ibid, 
al Notes, page 58. 26 Injanction 44, in Bishop 

24 Script. Anglican, p. 485. Sparrow's Collection, page 79. 



! 0/ the Catechism* 407 

' amine and instruct the youth and ignorant persons of Sec. II. 
his parish in the Church Catechism. I suppose the rea- 
son of the alteration was, that Catechism being perform- 
ed in the midst of divine service, the elder persons, as 
well as the younger might receive benefit by the Minis- 
ter's expositions, and that the presence of parents and 
masters might be an encouragement to the children and 
servants to a diligent performance of their duty herein. 

§. 3. The persons appointed to be instructed in this Rubric 2. 

ji Catechism, are so many of the parish sent unto him^ as ihe J^^ P^^' 

I jl J['Jinister shall think convenient: which the next rubric ca"echiz-* 

supposes to be 2i\\ Children, Servants, and Apprentices, ed^ who. 
which haze not learned it. In King Edward's first Com- 
mon Prayer Book, those only were to be sent, who were 
not yet confirmed. But because many were then confirm- 
I n » ed young, at least before they could understand their 
I'i Catechism, though they might repeat the words of 
it, Bucer desired that they might still be catechized, till 
the Curate should think them sufficiently instructed^'' ; 
upon which motion the words were somewhat altered 
in the next review. 

§. 4. The care of sending their children and servants Wiiat care 
is by the same rubric laid upon their Fathers, Mothers, *° ^^ ^^' 
Mistresses, and Dames, who are to cause them to come to p^rej^fg 
Church at ihe time appointed,and obediently to kear,and be or- and Mas- 
dered by the Curate, until such time as they have learned all *ers, &c. 
that is here appointed for them to learn. The same is 
j required by the fifty-ninth canon of ourChurch,which far- 
ther orders, that if any of these neglect their duties, as the 
one sort in not causing them to come.and the other in refusing 
to learn as aforesaid ; they are to be suspended by the Ordin" 
ary, i. e. from the communion, 1 suppose, (if they be not 
children,) and if they so persist by the space of a month, they 
are to be excommunicated. And by the canons, of 1571, 
every Minister was yearly, within twenty days after 
Easter, to present to the Bishop, &c. the names of all 

II those in his parish, which had not sent their children or 
!l servants at the times appointed. And to enforce this, 

it was one of the articles which was exhibited, in order 
to be admitted by authority, that he, whose Child at ten 
years old or upwards, or his Servant at fourteen or up- 
wards, could not say the Catechism, should pay Ten 
Shillings to the Poor's Box^^. 

27 Boceri Script. Anglican, p. formation, Appen. 2. page 1. 
485. and Bishop Gibson's Codex, pa?. 

28 Strype's History of the Re- 453. 



468 



Of the Order of Confirmalmi. 



Ghap. 



IX' The two next rubrics, relating more immediately to 
"*" the Order for Confirmation, will come more properly to 
be treated of in the next chapter. 



CHAP. IX, 
OF THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION. 



The Introduction. 



The rite 
of Confir- 
mation ot 
divine in- 
stitution. 



I HAVE already observed^^, that it was a custom of 
the Jews to bring their children, at the age of thirteen 
years, to be publicly examined before the congregation, 
and to make a solemn promise that they would from 
thenceforward engage themselves faithfully to observe 
the Law of Moses, and so be accountable for their own 
sins : after which engagement followed the prayers of 
the congregation, that God would bless and enable them 
to make good their promise. And from this custom a- 
mong the Jews, the rite of Confirmation is thought by 
some to have been deduced. And indeed that there is 
some correspondence between them, is obvious and 
plain. But still I must assert, that the use of Confirma- 
tion in the Christian Church is owing to a much more 
divine original ; even to the example and institution of 
our blessed Lord, who is the head and pattern, in all 
things, to the Church. For we read, that after the Bap- 
tism of Jesus in the river Jordan, when he was come up 
out of the water, and was praying on the shore, the Ho- 
ly Ghost descended upon him^° : which represented and pre- 
figured (as some ancient fathers tell us^^) that we also, 
after our Baptism, must receive the ministration of the 
Holy Spirit. And indeed, all that came to St. John to 
be baptized were referred to a future Baptism of the Ho- 
ly Ghost for their completion and perfection. / indeed, 
saith he, baptize you with Water unto Repentance : but he 
that Cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost 



29 In page 403. 

30 Matt. ill. 16. Luke iii.21. 

31 Optat. contr. Donatist. Cy- 



ril. Catech 3. Vid. etHilar.Cbrj- 
sost et T heophylact. in Matt. 
ill. 16. 



Of ihe Order of Confirmation i 408 

and with Fire^^, And this was so necessary to confirm introduce* 
and establish them in the gospel-dispensation, that our 
Saviour, just before his Ascension, leaves a charge to his 
Apostles, who had before received the Baptism of Wa^ 
/er, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, till they 
had received the Baptism of the Spirit^ and were endued 
with Power from on high?^. For John truly, saith he, 
baptized with Water : but ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
Ghost not many days hence''^. Accordingly on the day of 
Pentecost, they were all visibly confirmed and filled with 
the Holy Ghost, who descended from heaven, and sat up- 
on each of them under the appearance of cloven tongues 
like as of fir e^^. 

6. 2. Hence -then we see, that the Institution of this 9<'Aposfo- 
rite was holj^ and divine. As to the Practice of it, we ^j^g^ 
may observe, that the Apostles, having received the Spi- 
rit, as is above mentioned, immediately knew to what 
use it was given them, viz. not to be confined to their own 
persons or college, but to be imparted by them to the 
w^hole church of God. For the Spirit itself zu«5 to teach 
them all things, and to bring all things to their remem* 
brance^^. And therefore to be sure it taught and remin- 
ded them, that the gifts and graces, which they them- 
selves received by it, were equally necessary to all 
Christians whatever. Accordins^ly as soon as they heard 
that the Samaritans had been converted and baptized by 
Philip, they sent two of their number, Peter and John, 
to lay their hands on them, that they mi^ht receive the Ho- 
ly Ghost^'^: a plain argument, that neither Baptism a- 
lone, nor the person that admmistered it,was able to con- 
vey the Holy Ghost : since if either the Holy Ghost 
were a consequence of Baptism, or if Philip had power 
to communicate him by any other ministration, the A- 
postles would not have come from Jerusalem on purpose 
to have confirmed them. The same may be argued 
from a like occurrence to the disciples at Ephesus : up- 
on whom, after they had been baptized in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, the Apostle St. Paul laid his hands, and then 
the Holy Ghost came on them^^i which shows, that the re- 
ceiving of the Holy Ghost was not the consequence of 
their being baptized, but of the Apostle's laying on his 
hands ; and that laying on cf hands was necessary to 

32 Mate. iii. 11. 36 John xiv. 16. 

33 Luke xxiv. 49. Acts. i. 4. 37 Acts viii. 14, Sec. 
54 Act? i. 5. 38 Acts six. 5, 6. 
35 Acts ii. 1—5. 



410 Of the Order of Confirmation, 

^l!!ll!fl P^^^?^^ ^"^ complete the Ephpsians,even after they had 
' . received the Sacrament of Baptism, 
attended V* '^' ^^ ^s true the mmistration of this rite at first was 
at first frequently attended with Miraculous Powers. But so 
withrnir- also we read was Prayer and Preaching, which yet no 
^o"ers%o °"^ ^^'^''' ^^Q")?h^ to be only /e?7i;>orari/ ordinances. To 
arg-mnent fancy therefore that the Invocation of the Holy Spirit, 
that iiwas with imposition of hands> was to cease, when the extra- 
oniTfor^a ^J'^^^^^J ^^^cts of it failed, is too groundless a supposi- 
teniporary ^'^" ^^ ^^ put in the balance against the weight of so sa- 
ordioance. cred and positive an institution. In the infancy of the 
Church these visible effects upon those that believed were 
necessary to bring over others to the failh : but when 
whole nations turned Christian, this occasion ceased ; 
and therefore the Holy Ghost does not now continue to 
empower us to work them. But still the ordinary gifts 
and graces, which are useful and necessary to complete a 
Christian, are nevertheless the fruits and effects of this 
holy rite. And these are by much the more valuable 
benefits. To cast out the devil of lust, or to throw down 
the pride of Lucifer; to beat down Satan under our feet, 
or to triumph over our spiritual enemies; to cure a 
diseased soul, or to keep unharmed from the assaults of 
temptation, or the infection of an ill example, is much 
more advantageous and beneficial to us, than the pow- 
er of working the greatest miracles. 
Adnainlst- Though neither are we to believe that these extraor- 
ered byihe dlnary effects did always attend even those upon whom 
nduo^^' ^^^^ Aposdes laid their hands: Mil did not speak with 
much for tongues^ nor all work miracles ; though as far as we can 
the ?ake learn, all were confirmed. Nor did the Apostles minis- 
of It? ex- j^gj, j_|^jg j.jjg gQ much for the sake of imparting miracu- 

traordina- , , i i i • • i i 

ry,asonts ^^^^ powers, as to the end that their converts might be 
oVduiary endued with such aid from the Holy Ghost, as might en- 
effects, j^bie them to persevere in their Christian profession. 
This may be gathered from those several texts, in 
which St* Paul intimates that all Christians in general 
have been thus confirmed ; but in which he implies at 
the same lime, that graces and not miracles were the 
end of their Confirmation. Thus he supposes both the 
Corinthians and Ephesians to have been all partakers of 
tliis holy rite, and plainly intimates, that the happy ef- 
fects of it were beini;; stablished in Christ, being anointed 
and sealed with ike. Holy Spirit of promise, and having an 
earnest of their inheritance^ and an earnest of the Spirit in 



Of the Order of Confirmation, 4 1 1 

their hearts"^'^. And that all these expressions refer to Introdncf. 
Confirmation is evident, as well froo) comparing them to- '^ 

gether, as from the concurring testimonies of several an^ 
cient fath^rs"^". 

But what has been esteemed the clearest evidence, f^^^'^j]^^'^, 
that the rite of Confirmation was a perpetual institution ^^jn', j^jn^ 
of equal use and service in all ages of the Church, is perpetual 
that passage of St. Paul in his Episllcto the Hebrews*^, ordinance, 
where he mentions the doctrine of Laying on of Hands^ 
as well as the doctrine of Baptism^ among the fundumenT 
lals of religion. Which words have been constantly in? 
terpreted by writers of all ages, of that imposition or 
laying on of hands, which was used by the Apostles in 
confirming the baptized. In so much that this single 
text of St. Paul is, even in Caivin's opinion''^ abundant- 
ly sufficient to prove Confirmation to be of apostolical in- 
stitution. Though I think what has been said proves it 
of a higher derivation. And indeed, from these very 
words of the Apostle, it not only appears to be a lasting 
ministry, (because no part of the Christian doctrine can 
be changed or abolished,) but hence also we may infer 
it to be of divine institution: since if it were not, St. 
Paul would seem guilty of ttaching for doctrines the com- 
mandments of men: which not being to be supposed, it 
must follow that this doctrine of imposition of hands is 
holy and divine. 

§. 4. The Scripture then, by these evidences of its use- prac<i?ed 
fulness to all Christians in general, proves that this rite by the 
had a farther view than the miraculous gifts of the Holy ^j^"'"^^ '" 
Ghost. And the history of the Church, by testifying ^ '*°^^' 
the continuance of it in all times and places, after these 
gifts of the spirit ceased, shows that it has ever been rer 
ceived and used as a perpetual and standing ordinance 
of Christianity. I think I need not produce mj^ authori- 
ties for this; because, 1 believe, no one doubts of the 
universality of the practice. However, because some 
may have a mind to be convinced by their own search- 
es, I have, for their readier satisfaction, pointed out some 
places in the margin'*^ ; which will soon convince those 

39 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. Eph. i. 13. 43 Theoph. An(ioch.p.33. Ter- 
aad chap. iv. 30. tul. de B ipt. c. 8- p. 226. D. d,e 

40 See the old Commentajora Resurrect. Cam. c. 8. p. 330. C* 
upon the several texts. Clem. Alex. Quis Dives salvubit- 

4 s Heb. vi. 3. ur ? versus fineiu, p. il3. Eiit.Ox- 

42 Calvin iu locum. on. 1683. Ori<r. Horn, 7. in Ezek, 



412 Of the Order of Confirmation. 

^^^ap^IX. that have leisure and opportunity to turn to them, that 
- the ancient fathers were so far from thinking Confirma- 
tion an obsolete solemnity, that they esteemed it a neces- 
sary means of salvation, which none that were advanc- 
ed to years of discretion could neglect without the ut- 
most hazard to their souls. 
Of what ^' ^' ^^^ though they justly allowed that Baptism 

use and alone was sufficient to save a person that died immedi- 
benefit. ateiy after it : yet those that lived, they affirmed, had 
need of farther grace, which Confirmation was ne- 
cessary to convey. Agreerthly whereunto, when our own 
Church declares thru Baptism is sufficient unto salva- 
tion, she only speaks of Children that die before they com- 
mit actual sin., or (as it was worded in the first book of 
King Edward) depart out of this Ife iu their infancy. To 
such indeed (as all our former Common Prayer Books 
affirm)?!© man may think that any detriment shall come by de- 
ferring of their Confirmation, But when Children come 
to that age, that partly by the frailty of their own flesh, part- 
ly by the assaults of the world and the Devil, they begin to 
be in danger to fall into sundry kinds of sin, they declare, 
that it is most meet that Confirmation be ministered to those 
that be baptized^ that, by imposition of hands and prayer, 
they may receive strength and defence against all temptations 
to sin, and the assaults of the world and the devil. For 
though the Baptism of Water washes awaj^ your former 
guilt, yet that alone cannot prevent the return of sin. 
Jt is true indeed, by the Sacrament of Baptism, we are 
made heirs of God, and admitted and received into the 
inheritance of sons : but still till we receive the rite of 
C onfirmation, we are but Babes in Christ in the literal 
sense; we are merely infants, that can do nothing, not 
able to resist the least violence or opposition, but lie ex- 
posed to every assault, and in danger of being foiled by 
ever^ temptation. Baptism conveys the Holy Ghost 
only as the spirit or principle of life; it is by Confirma- 
tion he becomes to us the spirit of strength, and enables 
us to stir and move ourselves. When we are baptized, 
we are only listed under the banner of Christ, marked 

Dionyp. Areop. Eccl. Mier. c,2.et 1. ad Ephes.IIieron. adv. Lucifer. 

4. Cyprian. Ep.70. et 73. Euseb. Arabr. Iib.de Initiand. c. 7. torn. 

1. 6. ' . 43 p. 244. ' . D. Niceph, iv. col. 349. A. et de Sacr. ]. 3. c, 

]' 6. r, 3. Melchiad. Ep. ;id Epij'C. 2 torn. iv. col. 363 H. Concil. E- 

Hi^pan Optat. contr. Don .tist. lib.Can. 77. torn. i. col. 978. E.Con- 

Cyril. CHtech Mystag. 3. Greg. cil. Laod. Can. 48. torn. i. coK 

iSaz. AdLortat. ad S. Lavacnim. 1505. A. 
Theodoret. et Theophylact. in c. 



Of the Order of Confirmation. 413 

for his soldiers, and sworn to be faithful ; and not till Introducf. 
Confirmation equipped for the battle, or furnished with 
arms to withstand the enemj. It is then also that we 
are sealed with the Lord's signature, marked, as it were, 
for God's sheep, and so secured from being stolen by 
robbers. 

This was the language of the primitive fathers, which 
they supported by the example both of our Saviour and 
his Apostles. Our Lord himself, they observe, did not 
enter into the wilderness, the place of temptation, be- * 
fore he was prepared for it by the descent of the spirit. 
And the Apostlfs, though endowed with baptismal grace, 
and though cheered and encouraged with their Master's 
presence, were timorous and fearful, not daring to stand 
the least shock or trial, till strengthened and confirmed 
by the Holy Ghost : but from that instant we find they 
were fearless and undaunted, not to be moved or shaken 
fromlheir faith by any apprehensions either of prisons 
or death. 

§. 6. From this instance of the Apostles we may also ^ered un- 
infer, that the want of the rite, ©f which we are now dis- necessary 
coursing, is by no means supplied, as some have ima- ^J ""^P^j^' 
gined, by the ministry of the holy Eucharist. This had Eucharist, 
been given to the ApostU s by our Lord himself; and 
yet we see their confirmation was not afterwards the 
less necessary. It is true, by the ministry of the holy 
Eucharist, the Spirit of ghostly strength is conveyed ; 
and therefore in the times of primitive devotion, this 
blessed Sacrament was daily administered, that those 
who would be safe against their spiritual enemies, 
might from hence be armed with fresh supplies of the 
divine assistance. But still we must remember, that the 
principal design of the holy Eucharist is to renew the 
work of preceding rites, to repair the breaches that the 
enemy has made, and to supply fresh forces where the 
old ones fail. For this reason the Sacrament of the 
Eucharist is to be often repeated, whereas Baptism and 
Confirmation are but once administered. But now this 
shows that Confirmation (in the regular and ordinary 
administratiofi of it) is as much required to go before 
the Eucharist, as Baptism is to precede either that or 
Confirmation. Upon which account (as I have already 
obscrved44) our Church admits none to the Communion 
before Confirmation, unless necessity requires it. And 

44 Page 280. 



414 Of ike Order of Confirmation* 

Chap. IX. indeed it may as well be imagined, that because the Ea- 
charist conveys remission of sins, it therefore may sup- 
ply the want of Baptism, as that because it conveys 
ghostly strength, therefore there is no need of Confir- 
mation after it. Or again, the Eucharist itself may as 
well be omitted, because Prayer has the promise of 
whatever is asked, as Confirmation be rendered useless 
or unnecessary, because the Eucharist will supply us 
with grace. The Spirit of God comes which way he 
, pleases ; but yet, if we expect his grace or blessings, 
we must ask for and seek it by those ways and means 
which he himself has thought fit to appoint, 
j^ecessary §, 7, But lastly, as Baptism is now for the most part 
ih ^b^^Tf administered to Infants, this holy rite is afterwards ne- 
of Baptism! ^^ssary to confirm to them the benefits of that holy 
Sacrament. For though the charity of the Church 
accepts of sureties in behalf of Infants, which are not 
in a condition to contract for themselves ; yet when 
they arrive at years of discretion, she expects them to 
take the covenant upon themselves, as their own act and 
deed ; which is one of the considerations for which the 
Church declares Confirmation to be very convenient to 
he observed : viz. to the end that Children being now come 
to the years of discretion^ and having learned what their 
Godfathers and Godmothers promised for them in Baptism, 
they may therefore with their own mouth and consent openly 
before the Church ratify and confirm the same^ and also 
promise thaty by the grace of God^ they will evermore en- 
deavour themselves faithfully to observe such things as they 
by their own confession have assented unto^s. And nideed 
they who refuse in their own persons to ratify the vow 
which was made in their name, renounce in effect all 
the benefits and advantages, to which the contract of 
their sureties had before entitled them. 

Having thus said what 1 thought convenient concern- 
ing the institution, the necessity and end of Confirma- 
tion, the manner and order of administering it by the 
ancients should be spoken to in the next place. But 
this may be done to better advantage, by comparing 
our own and the ancient ofiices together. And there- 
fore the farther particulars shall be taken into consider- 
ation, as the office itself shall lead and direct me. 

45 Preface to (he Office ; or Part of the rubric before the Cafj- 
chism in the old books. 



Of ihe Order of Confirmation* 415 



Sect. I. Of the Rubrics before ihe Office, 

Two of the rubrics, which relate to this office, are 

I printed at the end of the Catechism, which, till the last 

review, was rather a part of the order of Confirmation, 

than an office by itself ; it being inserted between the 

I rubrics relating to Confirmation, and the order for the 

J administration of it, 

I. The former of these rubrics is, in the first place, 3^"^"*' ^' 
concerning the age of the persons to be confirmed, ^f persons 
I which it determines shall be as soon as children are come to becon- 
[ lo a competent age^ and can say, in their Mother-Tongue^ firmed. 
the Creed, the Lord^s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments^ 
and also can answer to the other questions of ihe Cate' 
chism. In the primitive Church indeed, such persons as 
were baptized in the presence of the Bishop, were im- 
mediately presented to him in order for Confirmation-*®. 
Nor was this only true with respect to Adult Persons, 
but also with regard to Infants, who, if a Bishop was 
present, were frequently confirmed immediately upon 
their Baptism ; as may be showed from direct testimo- 
nies of the ancients, as well as from that known usage 
or custom, of giving the holy Eucharist to Infants, which 
inordinarily presupposes their confirm ation'*^ The same 
is practised by the Greek Church to this day^^. And in 
our own Church indeed, those who are baptized, after 
they are come to years of discretion, are to be confirm" 
ed by the Bishop as soon after their Baptism as conveniently 
may 6e'*^. But in relation to children, their confirma- 
tion is deferred, and with a great deal of reason, till 
they come to a competent age, and can say ihe Catechism, 
For it being required that at Confirmation they renew 
the vow that was made for them at their Baptism, and 
ratify the same in their own persons ; it is fit they should 
know and understand the nature of the obligation, be- 
fore they bind themselves under it. Nor can any de- 
Iriment arise to a child, by deferring its Confirmation 

46 Tertul. de Bapf. c. 7. 8. Cy- of the Christian Church, vol. iv. 

ril.Catech. Mjstag. 3. n. 1. Const* p. 368, &c. 
Ap. 1. 7. c, 43, 44. Amphiloch, in 48 See Dr. Snaith''8 Account of 

Vit. Basil, c. 5. Dionys. Eccl, the Greek Church, page 116. 
Ilier. c. 2. Ambros. de Sacram. 1. 49 See the first rubric at the 

3* c. 2. Optat. 1, 4 p. 81. end of the Office for Baptism of 

, 47 See both these points pro^ Persons of Riper Years. 
ed in Mr. Bingham's Antiquities 



416 Of the, Order of Confirmation* 

chap. IX. ^Q gy(,jj jjj^ ggg . because as our Church has declared, 
' (on purpose to satisfy people that are scrupulous in this 

very matter,) i; is certain by God'^s word^ Jhat children^ 
which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin^ are 
undoubtedly saved^^. Their original sin is done away by 
Baptism, and they are confirmed and secured by death 
itself from any future guilt : so that no danger can en- 
sue, if their Confirmation be deferred till such time as 
it can be of use. 

Bucer indeed (who generally runs into extremes) 
finds fault with our Church for administering it too 
soon ; and would have none admitted to this holy rite, 
till such time as they have had an opportunity of giving 
sufficient testimonies of their faith and desire of livmg 
to God by their life and conversation*^ But we have 
already showed, that the enabling persons to give such 
testimonies of their faith and practice, is the end of 
Confirmation ; and therefore surely Confirmation is to 
be administered, to assist them in manifesting their faith 
and practice and not to be deferred till they are al- 
ready manifested. For this reason it is very evidently 
the design of our Church, that children be confirmed 
before they have opportunities of being acquainted 
with sin ; that so the holy Spirit may take early pos- 
session of their youthful hearts, and prevent those sins, 
to which, without his assistance, the very tenderness of 
their age would be apt to expose them. It is indeed 
highly expedient, that those who are confirm.ed should 
be old enough to understand the nature and advantages 
of the rite they are admitted to, and the obligations it 
lays upon them ; and if they are duly apprised of this, 
they are deemed by our Church qualified enough. For 
they that are capable of this knowledge, are yet at 
years to discern between good and evil ; and therefore 
that must be the proper time to secure them, by the in- 
vocation of the Spirit, in the paths of virtue. Accord- 
ingly, it was declared by the rubrick perfixed to the 
order for Confirmation, in all the Common Prayer 
Books before the last review, That forasmuch as Con- 
firmation is ministered to them that be baptized^ that by im- 
position of hands and prayer thty may receive strength and 
defence against all temptations to sin^ and the assaults of the 
'world and the Devil ; it is most meet to be ministered when 

50 Rubric at the end of the 51 BuceriCensura, i»pud Script. 

Office for Public Baptism of Infants. Anglican, p. 482, 483. 



Of the Coder of Confrmaiiorii 41 T 

children come io thai age^ that partly by the frailty of their Sec*. I. 
ownfesh, parity by the assaults of the world and the Devil^ ' "" 

they begin to be in danger to fall into sundry ki'ids of sin. 
The reason why this was not continued at the review in 
1661, was not because the Church bad altered her mind, 
but because the foregoing part of the rubric was chang- 
ed into a proper preface, with which the office is now 
introduced. 

§. 2. The next thing mentioned in this rubric, is the Bishops 
Minister of confirmation, who it declares, must be a Bi- the only 
shop ; consonant to the first examples we read of it in ^'"'^^ g^* 
the Acts, or proceedings of the Apostles themselves, nation. 
For Peter and John were sent bj them from Jerusalem 
to confirm the Samaritans, though Philip had been there 
to convert and baptize them*^ ; which plainly shows, 
that the ofiice was bej'^ond a Deacon''s province, and lim- 
ited indeed to the highest order of the Church. For 
which reason the honour of dispensing this holy ordin- 
ance was always reserved to the ministry of the Bish- 
ops*^. 

I have had occasion indeed to show that the adminis- 
tering the Chrism, or the Unction which was used as a 
part of Confirmation, was often, for certain reasons, al- 
lowed to Presbyters". But even in such cases I have 
observed, that the right of consecrating the Unction^ and 
of imposing the hands, were both very strictly reserved 
to the Bishop. A few instances indeed may be produc- 
ed of Presbyters, and even Deacons, being allowed to 
perform this office*^ But then it was by a special li- 
cence or commission from the Bishop, and in cases, for 
the most part, of some great extremity or danger. 
Though indeed the allowing this in any case whatever 
'seems very much to run counter to the general practice 
and sense of the Church, which at all times and places 
very religiously looked upon the Imposition of Hands^ 
as the peculiar and incommunicable prerogative of Bi- 
shops. 

52 Acts viii. 14, &c. B. Hleron. contr. Lucifer, c. 4. 

63 Cyprian Ep. 73. ad Ju aiao Gelas. Ep, 9. ad Episc- Euseb. 1. 

p. 205. Firmil. Ep. 75. ap. Cypr. 6. c. 43. Aug. de Trin. 1. 15. c. 

p. 221. Vide et Cyprian, in Ap- 26. 
pend, p. 25, et 26. Concil. Elib. 54 See page 383. 
Can 38. et 77. Innocent. Ep. 1. 55 See instance? of this in Mr. 

ad Decent. Ambr. in Ep. ad Hebr. Biagham's Antiquities, book 12. 

vi. 2 torn. iii. col. 633, F. Dionys. c. 2. stct. 4, 5. voJ. iv. p. 389, 

Areop. Eccl. Hier. c. 5. p. 117. &c. 
Ee e 



418 Of (he Order of Confirmation. 

C^ap. IX. i^ijt then as the Bishops have the sole honour, so 

- have they also the whole charge of this institution. And 

ther° fore^'* since it must be wholly ornittecj, if they do not perform 

to do it of- it, the Church hath enjoined the frequent administration 

ten. of it by those reverend fathers. Informer ages (as our 

Church declares^^) this holy action has been accustomed to 

be performed in the Bishops s Fisilation every third year ; for 

which reas jn she wills and appoints^ that every Bishop or 

his Suffragan^ in his accustomed Visitation, do in his own 

person carefully observe the said custom. And if in that 

year, by reason of some infirmity, he be not able personally 

to visit, then he shall not omit the execution of that duty of 

Confirmation the next year after, as he may conveniently : 

though the Reformatio Legum (as cited by Bishop Gib- 

son^^) seems to appoint, that Confirmation be adminis- 

.^ ,p tered every year. 

iher or §» 3. 1 he remaming part of this rubric is concernmg 

Goflraoth- the Godfather or Godmother, which every one that is 
er ne- confirmed is obliged to have as a witness of their Confir' 
Confirma- ^(^lion. Dr. Nichols tells us, that " our wise Reformers, 
tion. " because there was not the like reason for them, as 

'^ there was before the Reformation, and because it gave 
" the parents an unnecessary trouble in procuring them, 
" have laid that usage aside*^" But one would wonder 
how the Doctor should be so much mistaken, immedi- 
ately after he must have printed and corrected this very 
rubric; and at the same time that, to account for the 
alteration, he cites the rubric immediately following. 
I^or can any reason be given, why the Doctor should 
so freely charge the providing these Godfathers as an 
unnecessary trouble. They ar^^ certainly as useful at the 
Confirmation of a youth, as they are at the Baptism of 
a person that is adult.* In both cases they are witnesses 

56 In the LXth Canon. 58 See his note (rf) upon the 

57 Codex Juris Ecclesiast. Tit. Rubric before Confirmation. 
19. cap. 2. vol. i. p. 454. 

* Shepherd is of a different opinion. This part of the rubric, as he 
explains it, requires, that a yoiitig man shall have a godfather, and a 
young woman a godmother. He then add? : " For this appoinimenf 
I own I can see no sufficient reason : and I apprehe7id that it is not 
now commonly observed. Before the reformntion the case was widely 
difieient, for then infants were confirmed at five or six ye^rs of age. 
The parti«*.>} to be confirmed are presented to the Bishop bj the rain- 
ieter of the parish, who is a witness of their confirmation ; and who, it 
is presumed, preserves a copy of the names of those whom be presents, 
for this among othtr reasons, that if any of them be negligent to come 
to the hdiy communion, he may admoiiish j-uch ol' their duty." In the 
American PrayeibooU this claute of the rubric is omitted.— ./3wi. iV. 



Of the Order of Confirmation, 419 



Sect. I. 



of the engagements, which the persons so baptized or ' 

confirmed lay themselves under ; and consequently will 

be proper and continual monitors to check or reclaim 

them, should they at any time hereafter be tempted to 

abandon the interest of Christ, and take part with his 

enemies. And for the prevention of any one's entering 

upon this trust, who will not be careful to discharge the 

duty of it, the Church provides, that no person be a(U 

mitted Godfather or Godmother to any Child at Christening 

or Cor}fir, nation before the said person so undertaking hath 

received the holy Cumnwnion^'^* 

II. The next rubric relates to the care which the Cu- The Mjnis- 
rate of every Pansh is to use preparatory to Confirma- ter to pi-e- 
tion, who, whensoever the Bishop shall give knowledge for p^^H^oners 
Children to be brought unto him for their Confirmation^ is for Confir- 
either to bring or send in writings with his hand subscribed mation. 
thereunto, the names of all such persons within his parish, 
as he shall think fit to be presented to the Bishop to be Con- 
firmed, And by the sixty-first canon he is farther en- 
joined to use his best endeavour to prepare and make able 
and likewise to procure as many as he can, to be then 
brought ; though he is al§o to take special care that none 
be presented, but such a^ can render an account of their 
faith, according to the Catechism- When they are brought, 
if the Bishop approve of thenfi, he is to cor firm them in fan- 
ner following. 

Sect. II. Of th^ preparatory part of the Office, 

I. Ll PON the day appointed, all that are to be then con- r^^^ ^^g^ 
firmed, being placed and standing in order before the Bish- Rubric and 
op, he {or some other Minister appointed by him) is to read Preface. 
the Preface, with which the office begins, and which, as 
I have already hinted, was only a rubric in all the old 
Common Prayer Books ; but at the last review was chan- 
ged into a preface, to be directed to those that shall offer 
themselves to be confirmed; that so the Church might 
be sure they a r^^ apprised of the qualifications that are 
requisite to this holy ordinance, and of the solemn en- 
gagements under which they are going to enter themr 
selves by it. 

II, The end of Confirmation being thus made known, rj^^^ ^^^^_ 
the Bishop m the next place, by a solemn question, tion and 

answer. 

59 Canon XIX. 



420 Of the Order of Confirmation, 

?.^!!llfl (^'^'^^ ^^'^s added at the last review,) demands of tl.e 
candidates an assurance that they will comply with it: 
asking them, in the presence of God and the Congregation^ 
whether they will renew their Baptismal Vow, and ratify 
the same in their own persons, <^c. To this every one to 
be confirmed, as a token of his consent, is audibly to 
answer, / do. 
The VpfPi- 111. After this follow two or three short versicles or 
des d responses betwixt the Bishop and the Congregation, 
^^^**"^^^' with which the order of confirmation in all the old 
Common Prayer Books used to begm. They are a 
proper preparation to the following solemnity, are often 
used in ancient Liturgies, and are taken out of the 
book of Psalms^®: though the last of them has been 
varied since the first book of King Edward, in which, 
in the room of it, was the usual salutation of, The Lord 
be with you : And zoith thy Spirit, 
The f 'ol- ^^* "^^^^ Bishop and People having thus joined their 
lecf. requests, the Bishop, in the next place, proceeds alone 

to collect their petitions into a continued form; in which 
he prays that God, who had vouchsafed to regenerate the 
persons who now come to be confirmed, by Water and 
the Holy Ghost, and had given unto them forgiveness of all 
their 4ri^ would now strengthen them with the Holy Ghost 
the Comforter, and daily increase in them the gifts of grace^ 
viz. the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are 
transcribed into this prayer from the old preek and La^ 
tin translations of Isaiah xi. 2. and which were repeated 
in the very same words in the office of Confirmation, as 
long ago as St. Ambrose's time** : from whence, and the 
Greek Liturgy*^, this whole prayer is almost verbatim 
transcribed. 

Sect. III. Of the Solemnity of Confirmation* 

or'^rnlllTn The preparatory part of the office being now finished, 
epsHntiai and all of them in order kneeling before the Bishop, (which 
P in Con- is a suitable posture for those that are to receive so 
firmadon. ^^^,^^ ^ blessing,) the Bishop is to lay his hand upon the 
head of every one severally. This is one of the most an- 
cient ceremonies in the world ; and has always been 

60 Psalm cxxiv. 8. cxiii. 2. cil.l. c. 2. tim. iv. col. 363. H. 

61 Ambr.de Initiand.c.r.tom. 62 Euoho ,og. Graec. p. 355. 
IV. col. 349. A. do Sacram. 1. 3. 0/Bc. S. Baptism. 



Of the Order of Confirmation^ 421 

used to determine the blessing pronounced to those par- ^^^^- '''• 
ticular persons on whom the hands are laid ; and to im- ' 

port, that the persons, who thus lay on their hands, act 
and bless by divine authority. Thus Jacob blessed 
Ephraim and Manasses, not as a parent only, but as a 
prophet^^ : Moses laid his hands on Joshua, by express 
command from God, and as supreme minister over his 
people*^ : and thus our blessed Lord, whilst in the state 
of humiliation, laid his hands upon little children", and 
those that were sick with divers diseases^^ to bless and 
heal them. When indeed our Saviour gave the Spirit 
to his Apostles iust before his Ascension, he acted by 
a power paramount and inherent. He gave of his own, 
and therefore dispensed it with authority; for he breath- 
ed on them, and said^ receive ye the Holy Ghosl^'', But 
now this would have been absurd in any that acted by 
appointment or delegation ; and the Apostles, from so 
ancient a custom and universal a practice, continued the 
rite of imposition of hands^ for communicating the Holy 
Spirit in Confirmation, which was so constantly and re- 
gularly observed by them, that St. Paul calls the whole 
office laying on of hands^^ ; a name which it usually re- 
tained amongst the Latin fathers; Confirmation being 
never administered for many centuries afterwards, in 
any part of the Church, without this ceremony. 

It was the custom indeed in some places, for the ^ ^^o^ <» 
Bishop to lay both his hands across upon the head use/^n?^ 
of the party confirmed, in allusion to our Saviour's stead of it 
death upon the Cross, in whom we believe, and from by the 
whom we receive the Holy Ghost. But in no Church S^^^^^ °^ 
whatever was the imposition of hands omitted or dis- 
continued, till the Church of Rome of late years laid 
it aside, and now uses instead of it to give the person 
confirmed a little Blow on the Cheeky to remind him that 
for the future he must be prepared to undergo any inju- 
ry or affront for the name of Jesus*^ But, notwithstand- 
ing this, the Romanists themselves seem to be appre- 

\ hensive, that imposition of hands is essential to this office. 
For whenever they are charged with laying it aside, 

' they endeavour to defend themselves by pleading, that 

I 63 Gt?n. xlviii. 14 68 Heb. vi. 2. 

64 Numb, xxvii. 18. 69 Vide Catechismum ad Par- 

65 Matt. xix. 13. Mark X. 16. ochosdeConfirmationisSacramen- 

66 Luke iv. 40. to, P. 2. p. 174. 8to. Lugdun. 

67 John XX. 22. 1636. 



4Sf2 Of the Order of Confirmation* 

Chap. IX. hands are imposed, when the person is hit on the cheeky 
^ or when the ointment is applied to him^^ But every 

body must see through the ridiculousness of this, since 
the hands are no otherwise concerned in either of these 
ceremonies, than as they cannot be performed without 
them. For this reason our Church, at the Reformation, 
wisely discontinued the Blow on the Cheeky and restored 
the ancient and apostolical use of Laying on of Hands, 
Prayer §• 2. But though the Laying on of Hands is a token 

anotlvercs- that the Bishops act in this office by divine authority; 
sential to y^^ ^^ ^{-^g same time they sue to heaven for the blessing 
lion. ' ^^^y bestow, in humble acknowledgment that the pre- 
cious gifts hereby conferred are not the effect of their 
own power and holiness, but of the abundant mercy 
and favour of him who is the only fountain of all good- 
ness and grace. Under a due sense of this, even the 
Apostles themselves, when they laid their hands upon 
the Samaritans, ;)r«i/ec/ that they might receive the Holy 
Ghost". And after their example do their successors 
with us pray, that the person on whom they lay their 
hands may he defended with the heavenly grace of God^ 
and continue his for ever, and daily increase in his Holy 
Spirit more and more, until he come into his everlasting 
kingdom. Amen, 

This form indeed is very different from what was ap- 
pointed to be used b> the first book of King Edward 
VI. in which immediately after the prayer, beginning, 
Almighty and everlasting God, the Minister was to use 
the following words : 

Sign them, Lord, and mark them to he thine for ever, 
hy the virtue of thy holy Cross and Passion, Confirm and 
strengthen them with the inward Unction of the Holy Ghost, 
mercifully unto everlasting life. Amen. 

Then the Bishop was to cross them on the forehead, 
and lay his hand upon their heads, saying, 

N. I sign thee with the sign of the Cross, and lay mine 
hand upon thee ; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost, Amen, 

These forms were certainly much more conformable 
to those that were used in the primitive church, than that 
which wc have now. What was the occasion of chang- 
ing them, 1 do not find; though it is probable the first 
might be laid aside, because it referred to the ancient 

70 Sirmontlus An(. 2. Par. 1. 71 Acts viii. 15. 
c 7. et T1)Q. VValdeD, lib. 2. c. 13. 



Of the Order of Confirmation* 423 

ceremony of anointing, which was discontinued at the Sect. III. 

Reformation, except the Unction, that was ordered by — 

the first Liturgy to be used at Baptism, was accounted 
preparatory to Confirmation, which I have already 
showed" to be not unlikely. But however, in the second 
book of King Edward, the ceremony of anointing was 
thrown entirely aside, even out of the office of Baptism : 
and therefore it is probable they threw out this form at 
the same time, which indeed, if it had continued af- 
ter the Unction was totally removed, would only have 
looked like the ruins of an ancient superstructure. 

6. 3. It must indeed be owned in behalf of this cere- Tbe use of 
mony, that it was very ancient and very signiucant. Copfirma- 
Some contend that it was practised by the Apostles, and (ion pri- 
interpret the texts of Scripture referred to in the mar- niitive and 
gin^', of a material unction administered in Confirmation. *^^*^° ^^' 
But those texts have been better judged to mean a spir- 
itual unction of the Holy Ghost, by which persons were 
in those days anointed or consecrated to the office of 
the ministry^"*. However, it is certain, that within a ve- 
ry few years after the Apostles, the holy fathers used to 
apply Oil and Balm to those that were confirmed, as an 
external sign of this inward unction of the holy Spirit, 
and to represent the Baptism of the Apostles on the day 
of Pentecost with Fire, of which oil we know is the prop- 
erest material. Theophilus Aniiochenus^^, who lived ' 

and flourished within seventy years of the Apostle St. 
John, and many others of the ancientest fathers^®, speak 
of it as a rite long established and used ; insomuch that 
it is difficult to discover from them, whether it was of a- 
postolical practice or not. I need not show that the use 
of it was continued in all parts of the church, through 
every century, quite down to the Reformation : for this 
may be gathered from the very names, by which they 
have always chose to distinguish this office, viz. the A- 
nointing or Chrism, the same name which the Greek 
church also uses for it till this day, as keeping religious- 
ly to the primitive usage^^ 

72 Page 382, Sec. ye Tertul. de Res. Cam. c. 8. 

73 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. 1 John ii. Orig. Horn. 7. in Ezek. Cyprian. 
20,27. Ep.70, 73. 

74 See Mr. Stebbing's Clagget, 77 Sir Paul Rycaut^s State of 
page 80, &c. the Greek Church, page 171. and 

75 Ad Autolychum. p. 33, E- Dr. Smith's Account of the *arae, 
dit. Oxon. 1684. page 117. 



424 Of the Order of Confirmahon. 

Chap. IX. ^, 4. Another ancient ceremony retained by our 
"[ ' '' church at the first Reformation, (as appears by the ru- 
siffn^oTthe^ bric which I have cited above,) was the sign of the Cross. 
Cross. This was used (as I have already observed) by the prim- 
itive Christians, upon all occasions: and therefore we 
may assure ourselves, they would nojomit it in so sol- 
emn an action as in that of Confirmation. TertuUian^^ 
is clear for the use of it in his time; and in after-ages 
testimonies are so numerous, that it is endless to cite 
them. I shall therefore only observe, that the name Con- 
signation (which was another name by which, it is well 
known, the Latin writers distinguished Confirmation) 
seems to have taken its rise from this ceremony of sign- 
ing the person, at the time of Confirmation, with the sign 
of the Cross. And from hence too, it is probable, it is 
sometimes called s^/»«y)5 by the Greeks, a name which 
they generally use to denote the sign of the Cross. 

But now neither this nor the unction having any text 
of Scripture that is clear on their side ; and since it can- 
not be made to appear that either of them was practis- 
ed or used by the Apostles ; we may reasonably sup- 
pose that they were taken up at first by the authority 
and discretion of every church for itself; and that there- 
fore every church has liberty, as to herself, to lay thera 
aside, since nothing appears essential to the office, but 
what we find the Apostles used, viz. Prayer accompani- 
ed with Imposition of Hands, 

Sect. IV. Of the concluding Devofions. 

The Versi- I. AfTER the persons were all confirmed, it was usu- 
Lord^r^ al for the Bishop, in the primitive church, to salute them 
Prayer. "^'ith Peace^ to denote that Peace (both temporal and eter- 
nal) was the happy fruit of the Holy Ghost conferred 
and received in this solemnity. Accordingly, in King 
Edward's first Common Prayer Book, the Bishop, imme- 
diately after he had laid his hands upon all that were 
brought and presented to him, was to say, The Peace of 
the Lord abide with you ; to which the answer returned 
was. And with thy Spirit, What offence this was capa- 
ble of giving, I cannot discover; but it is certain that it 
was thrown out when Bucer revised it:* though at the 

7a Tertul. de Res. Cam. c. 1. et de Praescript. c. 40. 

*" Why these words were omitted in the second and the succeeding 
books, the true reason cannot now be given. But hear the insinuatioB 



Of the Order of Confirmation. 4^5 

last review, soon after the Restoration, the usual saluta- Sect. tV 
f ion of, Tke Lord be with you^ And vnth thy Spirit, was — -" 
added in the room of it, together with. Let us pray, and 
ihe Lord's Prayer, which should not be left out of any 
office, especially where it conies in so properly ; and 
Ihereforc {all kneeling down) the Bishop is here directed 
to add it. 

11. After this the Bishop, in the next place, prays that The Col- 
what he has done may not be an empty and insignificant lecf» 
sign. And this he does with so noble a mixture of hu- 
mility and faith, as well agrees with the purest times. De- 
pending upon the faith and promise of God, he knows 
that the graces he has now been conferring are as sure a 
consequence of the office he has performed, as if he had 
in himself a power to give them. But still he considers 
from whom these gifts and graces come, and who alone 
can preserve and secure them ; and therefore, under a 
due sense of this, he mak^s his humble supplications, that 
as he has now laid his hands upon these people (after the 
example of the Apostles) to certify them thereby of God'^s fa^ 
vour and gracious goodness towards them ; the fatherly hand 
of God may be over them, his holy Spirit be ever with them, 
and so lead them in the knowledge and obedience of his word^ 
that in the end they may obtain everlusting life. 

UK And because the ancients believed Confirmation Thesed- 
to he a preservation both of body and souP, an addi- ond Gol- 
tional collect was added at the Restoration, from those ^^*'*- 
that are placed at the end of the Communion office, that 
God would direct, sanctify^ and govern, both our souls and 
bodies in the ways of his laws, and in the woi'ks of his com^ 
mandments, ^^c. 

IV. A blessing concludes all offices; and therefore '^heBles- 
one ought more especially to end this, it being as it were ^'"^* 
an epitome of the whole administration, which is but one 
continued and solemn benediction* 

After all is added a rubric, that none be admitted to the 
holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed^ or be 

79 Cyril. Catech. Mjstag. 3. }. 5 p. 291. 

of Wheatly : * It is certain it was thrown out wheni Bitcer revised 
it.' Who would not suppose from this, that Bucer had objected to 
these versicles ? But in the animadversions, which at the special re- 
quest of Craw MER, he made on some passages and ceremonies in the 
first book, for the alteration of which he has in general assigned sound 
reasons, no notice is taken of this passage. Nay the passage itself is 
not found in the translation which Bacer used."— '<SAe/>/ier<?= 
Frf 



420 Of the form of Sohmnizaiio n of Matrimony* 

^•^^P - ^- ready and desirous to be confirmed. This is exactly con- 
formable to the practice of the primilive Church, which 
always ordered thatConfirmation should precede the Eu- 
charist, except there was extraordinary cause to the con- 
trary ; such as was the case of Clinic Baptism, of the 
absence of a Bishop or the like ; in which cases the Eu- 
charist is allowed before Confirmation. The like pro- 
vision (as I have already ohserned^") is made by our pro- 
vincial constitutions, as well as the rubric which is now 
before us, which admit none to communicate, unless in 
danger of death, but such as are confirmed, or at least 
have a reasonable impediment for not being confirm- 
ed". And the Glosssary allows no impediment to be 
reasonable, but the want of a Bishop near the place. 



CHAP. X. 

Of the Form of Solemnization of 
MATRIMONY. 

The IntrodugtiojT. 

Marriage THAT this holy State was instituted by God, is evi- 
of divine dent from the two first chapters in the Bible^^; whence 
Histituiicn. it came ta pass, that amongst all the descendants from 
our first parents, the numerous inhabitants of the dif- 
ferent nations in the world, there has been some reli- 
gious way of entering into this state, in consequence and 
testimony of this divrne institution. Among Christians 
especially, from the very first ages of the church, those 
that have been married have been always joined togeth- 
er in a solemn manner by an ecclesiastical person^^. And 
by several canons of our own church, it is declared to be 
no less than prostituting one's daughter, to give her in 
marriage without the blessing of the Priests"'. Insomuch 
that some commentators of no small character interpret 

tJO Page 280 p. 557. B. Eucharist. Ep. 1. ad 

81 Provinc. Lindw. Cap. de Epi«c. Afric Concil. torn. i. col. 
Sacr, Urict. 534. B. C. Carth^g.Concil. 4. Can, 

82 Gen. i. 28 and c. ii. 18, 24. 13. torn. ii. col. 12'il. A. B. 

83 Igiiat. Ep. ail Polycarp. U 84 Concil. Winton. A D. 1076. 
5. p. 9. Tertnl. ad Uxor. 1. 2. c. Constitut. Richardi Episc. Sar. 
alt. p. 171. et de Padicitia, c. 4. Ann. 1217. Spelm.tom. ii. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 4 27 

those words of Saint Paui, of marrying in the, Lord^^^ of Sect. I. 
marrj'ing accordinej to the form and order prescribed "" ' 
by the Apostles. But 1 think those words are more nat- 
urally to be understood of marrying one of the same 
faith ; as by the dead that die in the Lord^'^, are undoubt- 
edly to be understood, those that die in the faith of 
Christ. However, it is certain, that both in the" Greek 
and Latin churches, offices were drawn up in the most 
early times for the rehgious celebration of this holy or- 
dinance; but being afterwards mixed with superstitious 
rites, -mr reformers thought tit to lay them aside, and to 
draw up a form more decent and grave, and more agree- 
able to the usage of the primitive church*. 

Sect. I, Of the Rubrics concerning the Banns, 

I. Before any can be lawfully married together, the Rubric i. 
Banns are directed to be published in the church, i. e. ^?"?!v 
Public Proclamation (for sp the word signifies) must be ^ord si?-- 

nifies. 

85 1 Cor. vii. 39, Concil. Carthag. 4. ejusqiie Se- Why, and 

86 Rev. xi\. 13. quax FVanciscus Longus a Cario- how often 

87 Severinus Binius in Can. 13. J^co, et alii, to be pub; 

lished. 

* ♦* By (he law of England,^' says Shepherd, ^* marriage is consid- 
ered simply as a civil contract by which a man and a woman mutual- 
ly engage to live together as husband and wife. Yet it is a contract 
so important and venerable, that to impress a stamp of sanctity upon 
if, and the pore effectually to secure jt from violation and contempt, 
its celebration has in all ages of the world, more especially among 
civilized Si.cielies, been accompanied with religious rite?.'' — vol.2, p. 
318. *'• Among- the christians of the first ages, the marriage ceremony 
was usually, but not universally, performed by an ecclesiastical min- 
ister, Such marriages however, as were contracted according" to tjie 
established Roman or pagan form.", though the rulers of tl^e churph 
might reprobate them, it was not then in their power to annul. If for 
instance, a christian married according to the Roman law a Jewess, 
or a female mfidel, or an heretic, the validity of the marriage was nev- 
er disputed." — lb. p, 321. 

In the United States, it has been decided in the courts of law, that 
marriag^e is a civil contract founded on the social nature of man (Mass. 
Rpp. VII. 48. Binnev's Rep. VI. 406.) Hence no particular religi- 
ons ceremony is required in order to constitute a lawful marriage. In 
Pennsylvania it is held that the marriage contract may be completed 
by any words expressive of a contract in the present teme^ (per verba 
de praesenti,) wthout regard to form ; provided only that the parties 
have no lawful impedimeni And in all the states, no particular reli- 
gious ceremony is required to be observed, though in some the pre- 
sence of a minister or justice of the peace, and his official assent to the 
contract,i9 necessary. The difficulty of ascertaining what laws the sev- 
eral states have enacted on this subject, will, it is hoped, b-- a sufficient 
apology for the want of particnlai'it| in these remark^:. It has been 
found impossible to give any thing like a complete digest of American 
law respecting marriage, as was at first intended. — idm. Ed. 



428 Of the form of Solemmzation of Matrimony. 

CJaap. X. made to the congregation, concerning the design of the 
'"•''■"^ parties that intend to come together. This care of the 
church to prevent clandestine marriages is, as far as \ye 
can find, as old as Christianity itself. For Tertullian 
tells us, that in his time all marriages were accounted 
clandestine, that were not published beforehand in the 
church, and were in danger of being judged adultery and 
fornication^'. And by several ancient constitutions of 
our own church, it was ordered, that none should be 
married before notice should be given of it in the public 
congregation on three several Sundays or Holy-days^'. 
And so it was also ordered by the rubric prefixed to the 
form of Solemnization of Matrimony in the Book of 
Common Prayer, viz. that the Banns of all that are to be 
married together be published in the church three several 
Sundays or holy-days, in time of divine service ; unto which 
was added at the last r<?view, immediately before the Sen" 
tenets for the Offertory : but it is ordered by a late Act of 
Parliament*, that all Banns of Matrimony shall be, publish" 
ed upon three Sundays preceding the solemnizalion of Mar- 
riage, immediately after the second Lesson,] 
The Po- ^. 2. The design of the church in publishing these 
the^parties ^ap^s, is to be Satisfied whether there be any just cause 
ortheiroot Or impediment why the parties, so asked, should not be 
b« in? ^et- joined together in Matrimony. What are allowed for 
lied in the *• e> J 

place ^. 

where 

they are * Statute 26 George II. To prevent clandestine Marriages^ 

asked, no which should be carefully perused b^ every Parochial Cler- 

reason for o-yman. 

prohibiting 

^* 88 Tertul. de Pndicitia, cap. 4. son''fi Ecclesiasticallaws, 1200. 11, 
8<» ?»ee Bishop Gibson's Codex, 1322. 7. 1328. 8. 
Tit. 22. cap. 6. p. 5lU. and John- 

t In Massachusetts the Statute requires that no Minister or Justice 
of the peace shall solemnize a marriage, unless the parties shall produce 
ja certificate from the clerk ot the town or district wherein they respec-r 
tively dwell, that their intention of Marriage hath stood eptered with 
him for the space of 14 days, and that publication thereof hath been 
made during that time at three religious meetings, pri three diflferent 
days, or that notice of such intention hath been posted up by the said 
clerk, for 14 days, in some public place in said town or district, lix 
case of minority of either party, the consent of the parent or guardian 
is required. Any one who wishes to forbid the banns, must assign the 
reasons thereof in writing, and leave them with the clerb, who shall 
forbear to issue his certificate until the matter shall be inquired into 
and determined by two Justices of the peace Q. U. or until (he expi- 
ration of 7 dttys from filing the objections, without an}' application to 
(he Justices aforesaid by tbe objector. Mass. Stat. 1786.~*4?w. £ff« 



Of th e form of Sokmnization of Matrimony. 4^9 

lawful impediments, ■ shall have occasion to show in the ^^^^' ^* 
next section. ]n the mean while I shall here observe, 
that the Curate is noi to stop his proceeding, because 
any peevish or pragmatical person, without just reason 
or authority, pretends to forbid him ; as is the case 
sometimes, when theChurchwardrns, or other officers of 
the parish, presume to forbid the publication of the Banns 
because the parties are Poor^ and so like to create a 
charge to the parish : or because the man is not perhaps 
an Inhahilant^ according to the laws made for the seitle- 
ment of the Poor. But Poverty is no more an impedi- 
ment of marriage than Wealth ; and the kingdom can as 
jlittle subsist without the Poor, as it can without the Rich. 
And as to the pretence of the man's not being an Inhab- 
itant of the Parish, it is certain, that by the Canon Law 
a traveller is a parishioner of every church he comes 
to®°. The Minister where he is, is to visit him if sick, to 
perform the offices to him while living, and to bury him 
when dead : and no other Clergyman can regularly per- ■ 

form any divine office to such a person, so long as he 
continues within the said parish. In short, he is a pa- 
rishioner in all respects, except that he is not liable to be 
kept by the parish, if he fall into poverty. Nor does the 
bidding of Banns alter his condition in that respect : for 
in that, it is not considered where the person has a legal 
settlement but where he dwells or lives at present. And 
the spiritual courts acted by this rule (if by any) when 
they granted a Licence to a man to be married, that had 
not been four and twenty hours within their jurisdiction ; 
and write him in the Licence, seaman of that port or par- 
ish where he landed last, or where perhaps he lodged 
the night before. 

§. 3. The penalty incurred for marrying any persons The pen- 
(without a Faculty or Licence) before the Banns have been Minister 
thus duly published, is, by the canons of our church, de- that mar- 
clared to be Suspension for three year s^^. Nor is there rhs with- 
any exemption allowed to any churches or chapels, un- ^g^J;^*'^^ 
der colour of any peculiar liberty or privilege. The pro- uaans. 
hibition is the same in one place as in another. Marry 
where they will, the canons inflict the same penalty up- 
on the Minister^^ ; who, by an Act of Parliament made 

90 Lyndwood, 1. 3. T. 15. c. 91 Canon LXII. 
Altisfimus, t. Peregrinantes. 92 Canon LXUI.. 



430 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 

Chap. X. in the tenth year of Queen Anne% shall, besides his sus- 
" pension, forfeit one hundred pounds for every offence ; 
or if he be a prisoner in any private gaol, he shall be 
removed to the county gaol, charged in execution with 
the aforesaid penalty, and with all the causes of his for- 
mer imprisonment. And whatever gaoler shall permit 
such Marriages to be solemnized in his prison, shall, for 
every such offence, forfeit also the sum of one hundred 
pounds. And by the Act, 20 George II. before mention- 
ed, the person who shall solemnize Matrimony in any 
other place than a church or public chapel, or without 
publication of Banns, or Licence, is deemed guilty of 
Felony, and is to be transported tor fourteen years, and 
the Marriage declared to be null and void.* 

§. 4. The Ecclesiastical Courts would have us to be- 
Marriage Jieve, that a Licence is necessary, even after the Banns 
proWbitecT. ^^^^ been duly published, to empower us to marry du- 
ring such times as are said to be prohibited^"*; and this 
they found upon an old Popish Canon Law, which they 
pretend was established among other Popish Canons and 
Decretals, by a statute 25 Henry VIIL But now it is 
certain that the times prohibited by the Pope's Canon 
Law are not the same that are pretended to be prohibit- 
ed here in England ; or if they were, the statute declares, 
that the Popish Canons and Decretals are of force only 
so far forth as they have been received hy sufferance, 
consent, or custom^^ Now there is no canon nor custom 

93 10 Anrae, cap. 19. in an inclusive; and from the first of 
Act, intitled, An Act for lairing the Rogation-daye (i. e. the Mon- 
several Duties^, «&:c. day before Ascension-day) till the 

94 Viz. Frou) Advent-Sunday day bei'ore Trinity-Sand ay inclu- 
to the Octave of the Epiphany in- sive. 

elusive ; from Septuagegima-Sun- 95 Chap, 21. 
day till the Sunday after Easter 

* In Massachusetts the penalty for joining persons in Marriage, con- 
trary to the Statute, is £50 (SI66, b7 cts.) and every Justice or Min- 
ister, against whom the penally is rtcovered^ h forever after incapa- 
citated from joining persons in Marriage, and subject to fine and pillo- 
ry at the discretion of the Cdurt, should he afterwards undertake to 
solemnize marriages. The offence of such Justice or Minister does not 
however make void the marriage, provided there be no lawful imped- 
iment between the contracting parties. Every Minister and Justice 
of the peace is also required to keep a record of Marriages solemnized 
BEFOHE HIM, and annually to make a return thereof to the clerk of 
the town where he lives, certifying both the Christian and Surnames of 
all per'-oui so joined in Marriage by him. Ip case of neglect, the pe- 
nalty incurred is disqualification to solemnize Marriages for such time 
a<> the Court of Sessions shall direct, not exceeding 10 years.— t/4/n. Ed. 



Qf the form of Solemnization oj Matrimony. 43 1 

of this realm, that prohibits Marriages to be solemnized Sect. !. 
at any time : but, on the contrary, our rubric, which is " 
confirmed by Act of Parliament, (and which is therefore 
as much a law of this realm as any can be,) requires no 
more than that the Banns be published in the church 
three several Sundays in the time of divine service ; and 
then, if no impediment be alledged, gives the parties, so 
asked, leave to be married, without so much as intimat- 
ing that they must wait till Marriage comes in. As to the 
authority oi Lyndwood, and some other such pleas of- 
fered by the gentlemen of the spiritual courts, the read- 
er, that desires farther satisfaction, may consult two 
learned authors upon this point®^, who plainly enough 
show, that the chief motive of their insisting upon Licen- 
ces as necessary within these pretended prohibited times, 
is because marrying by Banns is an hindrance to their 
fees. 

It is true indeed, it hath been an ancient custom of the Though _ 
primitive church to prohibit persons from entering upon "tloaiT" 
their nuptials in solemn times, which are set apart for geasons. 
Fasting and Prayer,and other exercises of extraordinary 
devotion. Thus the council of Laodicea forbids all 
Marriages in the time of Lent^% and several other canons 
add other times in which Matrimony was not to be sol- 
emnized : which seems to be grounded upon the command 
of God^*, the counsel of Saini PauP®, and the practice of 
the sober part of mankind^ For even those who have 
wives ought, at such times, to be as those who have none ; 
and therefore those who have none ought not then to 
change their condition. Besides, there is so great a con- 
trariety between the seriousness that ought to attend the 
days of solemn religion, and the mirth that is expected at 
a Marriage-Feast, that it is not convenient they should 
meet together, lest we either violate religion, or disoblige 
our friends^ This consideration so far prevailed even with 
the ancient Romans, that they would not permit those 
days that were dedicated to acts of religion, to be hin- 
dered or violated by nuptial celebrations^. And Chris- 
tians, one would think, should not be less observers of 
decency, than Infidels or Heathens- For which reas- 

yS See Dr. Brett's Letters, inti- 98 Exod. xix. 15. Joel ii. 16. 

tied, Some Considerations on the 99 1 Cor. vii 5. 

Times wherein Marriage is said to 11 Sam. xxi. 4, 5. 

be prohibited; and Mr. Johnson's 2 Macrob. Saturn. 1. 1. c. 15. 

Clereyman's Vade Mer.um. c. 21. p. 262. Lugd. Bat. 1670. 

97^ Can 52. torn. i. goK 1505. C. 



432 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 

Chap. X. on it would not be amiss, I humbly presume, if a prohi- 
"' bition was made, that no persons should he married du- 
ring the solemn seasons, either by Licence or Banns. 
But to prohibit Marriage by Banns, and admit of it by 
Licence, seems not to be calculated for the increase of 
religion, but purely for the sake of enhancing the fees. 
Rubric 2. H. If the persons thai are to be married dwell in diverse 
•t ^^he P^'"'^^'^^^') ^^^ Banns must be asked in both parishes^ and tlit 
soiecnnized Curate of the one parish is not to solemnize Matrimony be- 
JD one of twixt them, without a certificate of the Banns being thrice 
the church- asked from the Curate of the other parish. This seems to 
the Banns •'^uppose what both the ancient and modern canons enjoin, 
were pub- viz. that Marriage shall always be solemnized in the 
lished. church or chapel where one of the parties dwelleth. 
And by our own canons, whatever Minister marries them 
any where else, incurs the same penalty for clandestine 
Marriage^ . Nor is even a Licence allowed to dispense 
with him for doing it"^. And the late Act for prevent- 
ing clandestine Marriages expressly requires, that, in all 
cases where Banns have been published, the Marriage 
be solemnized in one of the Churches where such pub- 
lication had been made, and in noother place whatsoev- 
er ; and that no Licence shall be granted to solemnize 
any Marriage in any other church than that which be- 
longeth to the parish, within which one of the parties to 
be married hath dwelt for four weeks immediately pre- 
ceding. Formerly it was a custom, that Marriage should 
be performed in no other church, but that to which the 
%voman belonged as a parishioner*: and the ecclesiasti- 
cal law allowed a fee due to the Curate of that church, 
whether she was married there or not; which was gen- 
erally reserved for him in the words of the Licence : 
but those Words have been omitted in Licences granted 
since the Act 26 George II. took place, which gives no 
preference to the woman's parish. 

Seot. II. Of the Rubric before the Preface. 

Thecano- FoR better security against clandestine Marriages, the 
nical hours chupch orders that all marriages be celebrated in the 
tin'^tf Ma'. Day-time : for those that mean honorably need not fty 
trimony. the light. By the sixty second canon they are ordered 

3 Canon LXII. 5 Clergyman's Vade Mecuo), 

1. Canon GIL c. 21. page 188. 



Of the form of Solemnization oj Matrimony. 433 

to be performed in time of divine service; but that prac- Sect^ll, 
tice is noiv ihnosl, by universal consent laid aside and ~^ 

discontinued : and the rubric only mentions the day and 
time appointed, which the aforesaid canon expressly re- 
quires to be between the hours of eight and twelve in the 
forenoon: and though even a Licence be granted, these 
hours are not dispensed with*^ ■* for it is supposed that 
persons will be serious in the morning. And indeed for- 
merly it was required that the Bridegroom and Bride 
should be fasting when they made their matrimonial 
vow^ ; by which means they were secured from being 
made incapable by drink of acting decently and discreet- 
ly in so weighty an affair. 

§. 2. At the day and time appointed, the persons to ^^ ^^f^j^g 
be married are directed to come into the body of the church the 
Church. The custom formerly was for the couple, who Marriaee 
were to enter upon this holy state, to be placed at the is tobesd- 
church-door. where the Priest was used to join theii hands ^^"^""'^^ • 
and perform the greatest part of the matrimonial office^ 
It was here the husband endowed his wife with the por- 
tion or dowry before contracted for, which was therefore 
called Dos ad Ostium Ecclesice^ The Dowry at the Church- 
door^. But at the Reformation, the rubric was altered, 
and the whole office ordered to be performed within the 
church, where the congregation might afford more wit- 
nesses of the fact. 

And since God himself doth join those that are law- 
fully married, certainly the house of God is the fittest 
place, wherein to make this religious covenant. And 



* The Archbishop of Canterbury, in virtue, I suppose, of 
the old legantine power, claims a privilige of granting Li- 
cences for persons to be married, quolibi't loco aut tempore 
honesto ; i. e. in any decent time or place. A privilege, 
which I cannot but humbly conceive his Grace would he ve- 
ry backward of using, were he apprised what indecencies 
generally attend it. 

N B. This right is expressly reserved to the Archbishop, by 
statute 26 George II. 

6 Canon CII, HI. Jq bis Wife of Bath, 

7 Synod. Wintoo, Ann. 1308. She was a worthy Woman all 
Spltman, torn. i. page 448. her live, 

8 See the old Manual*, and Sel- Husbands at the Church-dore 
don"'sUxor Ebraica, 1 2. c 27. p. had she Jive. 

2U3. And from hence Chtucer, 9 See the Manualsj andSelden, 
an old poet in tiie reign of Edward as above. 

Gog 



434 Of ike form of Solemnization of Matrimony o 

Cliap. X. therefore, by the ancient canons of this church, the cele-- 
* bration of Matrimony iti taverns,or other unhallowed pla- 

ces, is expressly forbidden^^; and the office is command- 
ed to be performed in the church, not only to prevent all 
clandestine Marriages, but also that the sacredness of 
the place may strike the greater reverence into the minds 
of the married couple, while they remember they make 
this holy vow in the place of God's peculiar presence. 
Who to be §. 3. The persons to be married (saith the rubric) 
theTokm- ^^^ ^^ come into the church with their friends and neigh- 
iiization. hours, i. e. their relations and acquaintance, who ought 
to attend on this solemnity, to testify their consent to it, 
and to join with the minister in prayers for a blessing on 
it. Though it may not be improbable, but that by the 
friends here mentioned may be understood such as the 
p ancients used to c^W Paranymphs, or Bridemen: some 

nymphs.or ^^^^^s of which custom we find to be as old as the days 
Bridemen, of Sampson, whose wife is said to have been delivered to 
their anti- hjg companion, who in the Septuaginl version is called 
^"' ^* nvf^(pay6fyU, or Brideman^^ And that Bridemen were 
in use among the Jews in our Saviour's time, is clear 
from St. John iii. 29. From the Jews the custom was 
received by the Christians, who used it at first rather as 
a civil custom, and something that added to the solemni- 
ty of the occasion, than as a religious rite; though it 
was afterwards countenanced so far as to be made a ne- 
cessary part of the sacred solemnity^^. An account of 
this custom as it prevailed here in the time of King Hen- 
ry VIII. may be seen in Polydore VirgiU^. Some re- 
mains of it are still left aniong us : but as to countenanc- 
ing or discountenancing it, our church has left it (as in 
itself) a thing indifferent. 
The posi- §. 4. The remaining part of this rubric (which was ad- 
tion of the ^gj ^q the foregoing part at the Restoration) is concern- 
ties*. ^^^' ^"g ^^^ Position of the parties, whom it orders to stand, 
the Man on the right hand, and the Woman on the left, i, e. 
the Man on the right hand of the Woman, and the Woman 
on the left hand of the Man, as it is worded in the Salisbu- 
ry Manual. The reason that is there given for it is a ve- 

10 Synod. Winton. ut supra. 12 Eucharist. Ep. ad Episc. Af- 
Synod. Exon. Anno 1287. Can. 7. ric, Concil. torn. i. col. 543. C. 
Spelm. torn. ii. Concil. Lend. An- Concil. Carthag. 4. cap. 13. torn, 
no 1200. ibid. ii. col. 1201. A. 

11 Judge? xiv. 20- according; to 13 De Invent. Rerum, 1. ) c,4. 
the Alexandrian Copy, published as cited by Seldon in his Uxor E- 
by Ur. Grabe, braica, page 205. 



Of the form of Sol&nimzaUon cf Matrimony. 48^" 

rj weak one, viz. because the Rib, out of which the Wo- Sect. III. 

man was formed, was taken out of the left side of Adam. — ^ ■" 

The true reason to be sure is, because the right hand is 
the most honourable place ; which is therefore both by 
the Latin and Greek, and all Christian churches, assign- 
ed to the Man, as being head of the Wife^^, The 
Jews are the only persons that, I ever heard, acted oth- 
erwise, who place the Woman on the right hand of her 
Husband, in allusion to that expression in the forty-fifth 
Psalm. At thy right hand did stand the Queen in a vesture 
of gold, <^c. 

Sect. Ill, Of the Preface and Charge, and the several 
Impediments to Matrimony, 

1 O prevent the vain and loose mirth, which is too fre- J^^ ^'^' 
quent at these solemnities, the office is begun with a neVi°Ex-° 
grave and awful Preface, which represents the action we hortation, 
are about to be of so divine an original, of so high a na- 
ture, and of such infinite concernment to all mankind, 
that they are not only vain and imprudent, but even void 
of shame, who will not lay aside their levity, and be 
composed upon so serious and solemn an occasion. And 
to prevent any misfortune which the two parties might 
rashly or perhaps inconsiderately run into by means of 
their Marriage, the Minister charges the congregation, 
If they know any just cause, why they may not he lawfully 
joined together, that they do now declare it, before this ho- 
ly bond be tied, sfnce afterwards their discovering of it 
will tend perhaps more to the prejudice than to the re- 
lief of the parties.* 

II. But though others are first called upon to discover The 
the Impediments (if any such be known) as being most Charge. 
likely to reveal them ; yet the parties themselves are 
charged, in the next place, as being most concerned to de- 
clare them. Since, should there afterwards appear any 
just Impediment to their Marriage, they must either ne- 
cessarily live together in a perpetual sin, or be separated 
for ever by an eternal divorce. Besides which, by a pro- 
vincial canon of our church under Archbishop Strat- 

14 Manual, Sarieb. fol, 26. Eucholog. OlSc. Sponsal. p. 380^ 

*"The American office retains only the introductory and concluding 
parts of Ihis exhortation : and all thcintermedtate part is often omii- 
ied by the ministers of our c^wrc/i."— Shepherd. 



436 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony* 

Chap. X. ford, in the year 1342, (ibe sixteenth of Edward III.) if 
" the parties tiiat marry are conscious of any Impediment, 

they incur excommunication ipso factors, 
JiraenTs'to ^^^* ^^^ Impediments, which they are solemnly charg- 
Matrimo- ^^ ^o reveal, are those, I suppose, which are specified in 
pj. the hundred and second canon of our church, viz, 1. A 

preceding Marriage or Contract^ or any controversy or 
suit depending upon the same. 2, Consanguinity or Af- 
fnity. And, 3. Want of the Consent of their Parents 
or Guardians, 
l.A prece- §. 1. The first is a preceding Marriage or Contract: for 
ding Mar- QqJ made but one Wife for Adam, and rather connived 
extract. ^^ Polygamy in after-ages than allowed it. Under the 
Gospej-dispensation it is absolutely forbidden^s. And 
this, I think, on one side, is generally allowed. No body 
contends that the same Woman may have plurality of 
Husbands, and the New Testament is expressly against 
it ^'^ : but then we have libertines enough (though liber- 
tines by the way, that often think one wife too many) 
who pretend that there is ng prohibition against several; 
and yet the New Testament, if we duly attend to it, is as 
full and as clear against this as (he former. Our Sav- 
iour himself has expressly declared, that whosoever shall 
put away his Wife^ and shall many awHher^ committetk 
Adultery ^^,^ If then it be Adultery for a Man to marry 
a second Woman, after he has put away the first, would 
it be ever the less Adultery to marry a second. whilst he 
retains the first? Again, when Saint Paul enjoins every 
Man, for the avoiding Fornication, to have his own Wife, 
or, (as the words ought to be translated) a Wife of Ids 
own^^, he also enjoins that every Woman have her own 
Husband^ or (as these words ought also to l-e rendered) 
a Husband peculiar to herself ^^."t So that Polygamy is no 

* In (he general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church ia 
the United States, held at Bal«imore in 1808, it was resolved as " the 
sense oi' this church, that it is inconsistent with a law of God, and the 
ministers of this church therefore shall not unite in matrimony any 
p«rson wt>o is divorced, unless it be on account of the other party 
haying been guilty of adultery."— ..4!m. Ed. 

t The words in the original are, SKu^ijrov'i^iov uv^pettxerofj 
which any one that knows Greek wiU acknowledge to be 

15 Se Bp. Gibson's Codex, v. i. 18 Matt, xix 9. Mark x. IJ* 

p. 494. or in Mr. Johnson, 1343. 11. Luke xvi. 18. 

' 16 Matt. xix. 5. 9. Rom. vii.S. 19 '^Ekcltoc t»» tatt/Tx" yvv^tittt, 

3 Cor. vii. 2. i^sTee. 

■ IT Rom. vii. 2, 2, 1 Cor. vii.39. 20 1 Cor. vii. 2. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 437 

more allowed to the Husband than to the Wife. And SectlU. 
therefore if either of the parties that ofter themselves to ' 
be married have a Husband or Wife living, this latter 
Marriage is null and void, and they live in as manifest 
Adultery as they would have done, though they had 
not been joined. Nay, if either of them be but contract- 
ed to another, the Impediment is the same. For, though 
such a Contract be not properly Marriage, yet it is so 
effective and binding, that unless they voluntarily re- 
lease each other, it is adultery for either of thenj to mar- 
ry any body else. Hence by the Levitical law it was 
death for any one to defile another man's spouse^^ ; and 
the holy Virgin is called Joseph'^s Wife^ though she was 
only contracted to him^^ Upon this account, Marriages 
that have been made after any such Contract have al- 
ways been judged null and void. In our own land in* 
deed, in King Henry VIIPs time, an Act of Parliament 
was made, that Marriages, when solemnized and after- 
wards consummated, should stand good, notwithstanding 
any former precontract that had not been consummat- 
ed^^ But this was only done to gratify the King : and 
therefore, as soon as King Edward VI. succeeded him, 
the aforesaid Act was repealed, and the Ecclesiastical 
Judges were again empowered to give sentence in favour 
of such precontract, and to require that Matrimony 
should be solemnized and consummated between the 



imperfectly translated in our English Bibles. For as Dr. 
W alpi very well observes, when Aristotle says, \'hov roZro 
roT? uvB^a-^oi?, no body would render it, Men have this (f their 
own ; but, this is proper or peculiar to Men : so again when 
he says, i $1 fiurpx^o^ i^Uv 'iy^ti rjjv yXus-trut^^^ it would not 
reach the sense to say, that frogs make their own noise^ but 
that/rog5 make a noise peculiar to themselves ; i. e. such a 
a noise as no other creatures make. When therefore St. 
Paul uses the same phrase here, which is so emphatical and 
express, our English translation does not come up to his 
meaning, when it only says, Let (venj Woman have her own 
Husband ; since the words plainly signify, that every Woman 
should have a Husband that should be proper or peculiar to 
herself; a Husband in such sense her own, as not to be the 
Husband of any one else. 

21 History of Infant Baptigm, 23 DeuL xx. 23, 34. 
P. i. c. 8 i. 5. 24 Matt. i. 20. 

22 Ibid. 25 32 Henry VIII. c. 38, 



438 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 

Chap. X. persons so contracted, notwithstanding that one of them 
might have been actually married to, and have had is- 
sue by another person^^ But it hath been again enacted 
by statute 26 George II. that for the future no suit shall 
be had in any ecclesiastical court to compel a celebration 
of Marriage in Fade Eccksim. by reason of any contract 
of Matrimony whatsoever. 
2.Consan- §' 2. The second Impediment, which the canon speci- 
guinity or fies, is Consanguinity or Affinity^ i. e. when the parties 
affinity, ^pg related to each other within the degrees prohibited 
as to Marriage by the laws of God, and expressed in a 
table drawn up by Archbishop Parker, and set forth by 
authority in the year of our Lord 1563^^. This table 
What de- jg ^q^ y^yy frequently printed at the end of Common 
expressJj Prayer-Books, and therefore I need not enumerate the 
forbid. degrees within which Marriage is forbid. But however, 
it may not be amiss to observe, that several degrees are 
expressed in the table, which are not mentioned partic- 
ularly in the eighteenth of Leviticus, which is the place 
And what, ^po^^ which the table is founded. But then they may 
by parity be inferred from it by parity of reason. For that pass- 
of reason, gge in Leviticus only mentions those relations evidently 
*?^ '^ ' and expressly, which may help us to discover the like 
difference and degrees. So that for the right understand- 
ing of the eighteenth of Leviticus, and to bring it to an 
agreement with the table in our Common Prayer-Books, 
we must observe two particular rules for our direction : 
viz, 1. That the same prohibitions that are made to one 
sex, arc undoubtedly understood and implied as to the 
other: and, 2. That a man and his wife are accounted 
one flesh : (so that whoever is related to one of them 
by means of Consanguinity^ is in the same degree relat- 
ed to the other by means oi Affinity : insomuch that the 
Husband is so much forbid to marry with his Wife's re- 
lations, and the Wife with her Husband's, within the de- 
grees prohibited, as either of them are to marry with 
their own.) Thus for instance: though marrying a Wife'^s 
Sister be not expressly forbid in the eighteenth of Levit- 
icus, yet by parity of reason it is virtually implied. For 
when God there commands^^ that a man shall not mar- 
ry his Brother^ fVifc^ which is the same as forbidding 
the woman to be married to her Husbancf's Brother ; it 
follows of course, that a man is also forbid to marry his 

26 2 Edward Vf. 28 Verse 16. 

27 Canon XCIX. . 



Of the farm of Solemnization of Matrimony, 439 

Wife'^s Sister. For between one man and two sisters, and Sect. IIL 

one woman and two brothers, is the same analogy and 

proportion. Accordingly, this was always forbid under 
severe penalties by the primitive church^^, and has been 
declared unlawful by our own^*^. Thus again, though we 
are not forbid in terms to marry the Daughter of a Wife^s 
Sister ; yet, by the like parity of reason, the same is im- 
plied in the prohibition of marrying one's Father''s Broth- 
er's f'Vife^i^ which is the same as to forbid the being mar- 
ried to a Husband''s Brother'*s Son, For between a Man 
and his IVife^s Niece is the same relation as between a 
Woman and her Husband's JsTephew ; and therefore these 
also have been declared incapable of marrying by our 
courts of judicatures^ And if this be granted, it can 
much less be doubted, whether the like rule, from pari- 
ty of reason, doth not forbid the Uncle to marry his 
J^iece ; which, though not expressly forbidden, is to be 
sure virtually prohibited in the precept, that forbids the 
Nephew to marry his Aunf^. Nor is it of any moment to 
allege, that the first is a more favourable case, because 
the natural superiority IS preserved; since the parity of 
degree (which is the proper rule of judging) is the very 
same in both. 

Nor do these rules hold only in lawful Marriages., but the^same^n 
are equally binding in unlawful Conjunctions : for by the unlawful 
same law that a man may not marry his Father''s Wife, Conjunc- 
he ought not to take his Father's Concubine ; and as the fg^^fuY^Jr^ 
woman may not be married to her Daughter's Husband, riages. 
so neither may she be married to one by whom her And be- 
Daughter has been abused^K Nor are Bastard Children J^'^/rS^" 
any more at liberty to marry within the degrees of the ^j^en ^g " 
Levitical law, than those that are legitimate. In this between 
case Legitimacy or Illegitimacy makes no d'fference ; for *^°^^ ^^^^ 
if it did, a Mother might marry her Bastard Son, which li^^^^f^' 
is shocking to think of^^ 

The reasons why these prohibitions are made are The rea- 
easily to be accounted for ; for, first, the marriage of ^°ohibl*^* 
Parents or Grandfathers with their Children or Grand- tio^n.' '" 

29 Can. Apostol. 18. et Concil, 32 See Bishop Gibson, ibid. 
Elib. 33 Verse 12, 14. 

30 See Bishop Gibson's Codex, 34 See the Reformatio Legum, 
vol. i. page 498. See also theCa- as cited by Bp. Gibson, page4y9. 
nons of 1571, in Bishop Sparrow, 35 See Bishop Gibson, ibid. and 
page 240. Bishop Parker^s Admonition in Bi- 

31 Terse 14. shop Sparrow's Collection, p. 260. 



440 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony i 

Cjiap. X, children (setting aside the disproportion in time of age) 
" is directly repugnant to the order of nature, which hath 

assigned several duties and offices essential to each re- 
lation, that would thereby be inverted and overthrown. 
To which we may add the inconsistency, absurdity and 
monstrousness of the relations to be begotten, if such 
prohibition were not absolute and unlimited. Much the 
same may be said in the next place, as to the Marriage 
of Uncles and Aunts with their Nephews and Nieces. 
And, lastly, as to the Marriage of Brothers with Sisters; 
the natural familiarities betv/een equal relations, so suit- 
able in years and temper, would produce intolerable ef- 
fects in those who always converse together, if they 
Such Mar- ^^'"^ ^^^ prohibited matrimonial union. Upon these ac- 
riages why counts, even among Heathens, these Marriages were ac- 
called in- counted unlawful and forbidden, and were condemned 
cestuous. under the name and title of Incest, which signifies an in- 
auspicious conjunction, made sine Ceslo Veneris, without 
the Cest or Girdle of Vemis, For that goddess being 
not supposed to be present at such unchaste and dishon- 
est Marriages, the Bride was not bound with her girdle 
as was usual, and therefore the Marriage was called in- 
cestuous^^. And by the ninety-sixth canon of our own 
church, such Marriages are also to be judged incestuous 
and unlawful, and consequently are to be dissolved as 
void from the beginning, and the parties so married are 
to be separated by course of law. 
Nocousina From an observation of the above-mentioned passage 
prohibited In Scripture, as well as from the table at the end of our 
Marriage. Common Prayer- Books, we may perceive that it is only 
a vulgar mistake, which some have entertained, that 
second Cousins may not marry, though frst Cousins may; 
it plainly appearing that no Cousins whatsoever, 
whether in the first, or second, or third descent, are 
prohibited Marriage, either by the laws of God, or of 
the land. The more ancient prohibition indeed of the 
canon law was to the seventh generation : and the same 
was formerly the law of the Church of England, as ap- 
pears by the canons of two different councils". But in 
the fourth council of Laternn, which was held A. D. 
1215, the prohibition was reduced to the fourth de- 
gree^^, as appears not only by a statute in the thirty- 
second of Henry Vlll.^^ but also by the frequent dis- 

36 Lactantius Statii Scholiastes ster, as cited by Bishop Gibson in 
ad 2 Thebaid. v. 283. ut citat. in his Codex, p. 497. 

Fabri The^auro, in vocem Cestns. 38 See Bishop Gibson,as before- 

37 Of London and Westmin- S9 Chap. 38. 



Ofthefo rm of Solemnization of Matrimony, 441 

pensalions for the fourth dcfijree, (and no farther,) which Sect. Ilh 
we LQpet with in our ecclesiastical records, as granted '*" 

by special authority from Rome. Rut now this was 
only for the increase and augmentation of the Pope's 
revt nue, who always took care to be well paid for his 
license or dispensation. And therefore, at the Refor- 
mation, when we got free from our bondage and subjec- 
tion to him, no Marriages were prohibited but within 
the third degree, which are expressly prohibited by the 
laws of God, as well as by the dictates of right reason, 
and which therefore no power or authority can dispense 
with. But now none that we call Cousins are within 
the third degree of kindred; even first Cousins or Cous- 
in-Germans are four removes distant. For to know their 
relation we must reckon through the Grandfather the 
common Parent, from whence both parties are descend- 
ed. Now reckoning thus between the Children of two 
Brothers, or of two Sisters, or of a Brother and Sister, 
we must necessarily measure four degrees. For from a 
Man to his Father or Mother is one degree ; to his 
Grandfather two ; then down to his Uncle or Aunt 
three ; and, lastly, to the Daughter of his Uncle or Aunt, 
who is his Cousin-German, fjur. This is exemplified ^ 
in the margin, where A is the Grandfather, B and C the i "^ 3 
Children, and D and E the Grandchildren or first Cous- b c 

ins, who are disposed to marry. N >w from D to B is 4 

one remove, to A a second, to C a third, and to E a ^ ^ 

fourth. And 1 have already observed, that there is no 
instance in the eighteenth of Leviticus of any prohibi- 
tion in the fourth degree. It is to be noted indeed, as 
Archbishop Parker tells us'^^, that Marriages in the di- 
rect line^ i. e; between Children and their Grandfathers, 
though ever so distant, are prohibited and forbid. For 
a Father has a paternal right over ten generations, could 
he live to see them in a direct line, (his old a^e requir- 
ing respect and reverence, as often increased as the 
name of father comes between him and them.) And so 
Uncles and Aunts, since they are quasi Farentes^ in the 
place of Fathers and Mothers, must have the greater re- 
spect, by how much the name of Uncle and Aunt comes 
between them and their Nephews and Nieces. So that 
it would seem more absurd for a Great Uncle to marry 
his Niece, than for an immediate Uncle to marry bis. 

40 In Bishop Sparrow's Collection, p. 260. 
HHh 



442 Of the form of Solemnization of Malrmony* 

Chap. X. Though we are told, that where the C;i^o in the spiritusl 
""*""' court was, that one had m irried the Wife of his Gnat 
Uncle^ (which, by the foregoing rule, that makes the 
case the same in Affinity as Consanguinity, is as near a 
relation as a Great Aunt by blood,) it was declared not 
to be within the Levitical decrees, and therefore a pro- 
hibition was granted to the process'*". 
.'3. Want of §.3. The third fmpe(]iment to the solemnization of 
G^mrdbaT ^^^^^'^?<^ between the parties that offer themselves, is the 
consent. 2vant of the Consent of their Parents or Guardians. But 
this by the hundredth canon acems only to be an Imped- 
iment, when the persons to be married are under the age 
of twenty-one years complete^ whom, by the sixty-second 
eanon, no Minister is to marry, whether by Banns or 
Licence, before their Parents or Governors have signified 
their consent^ though persons in widowhood are by the 
hundred and fourth canon particularly excepted''^ The 
holy Scriptures, in several instances, inform us of this 
paternal righf^^. And the usual phrases of giving a Daugh- 
ter in Marriage^ and talcing a Wife to a Son, plainly imply, 
that the consent of the Parents is necessary in the Mar- 
riage of their Children. If we enquire into the practice 
of the Heathens, we shall find them so severe upon the 
violation of this right, as to declare the Marriage to be 
null, and the Children to be Bastards''^ And the ancient 
canon-law of the Greek church accounts all children that 
marry without their parent's consent, whilst they are un- 
der their power, to be no better than Fornicators'*^ 
The church of England hath ever taken all imaginable 
care before-hand to prevent such Marriages, by requir- 
ing the oaths of sufficient witnesses, in case of a Licence, 
that such consent was obtained^® : and by the Act 26 
George IL it is declared, that all Marriages solemnized by 
iticence, where either of the parties, not being a Widower or 
Widow, shall he under the age of twenty-one years, which 
shall be had without the consent of Parents or Guardians^ 
shall be absolutely null and void. And where there is no 
Licence, the church orders the publication of the Banns, 
as has ah-eady been showed, that so the Parents may 
Jiave notice and time to forbid it ; and now finally char* 

41 Seo Bishop Gibsoti's Codex, 44 Ap"l. Metamorph. 1. 6. DJg. 
p. 409. lib. 23. tit. 2. et lib. 1 tit. 5 i 11. 

42 See also the Canons of 1597, 45 S. Basil, ad Amphiloch.Can. 
in Sparrow, page 249. 38. et 40. Matth. Biastt-r. Sjntag. 

43 Genesis xxiv. xsix, xxxiv. Lit. T. c 8. apnd Bevereg. tom,ii. 
4, Jodges xiv. 2. 46 Canon CIII. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 443 

§es the parties themselves, in the most serious and sol- ^^^- ^^' 
€mn manner that is possible, that they confess it as an ' 
Impediment, if they want their superiors' consent. 

IV. If any of the Impediments above mentioned are Rubric a(^ 
alleged, and the person that declares it will be bound and ^^^ ^^^ 
sufficient sureties with him to the parties, or else put in a 
caution (to the full value of such chwges as the persons to 
be married do thereby sustain) to prove his allegation ; then 
the Solemnization must be deferred until such time as the 
truth be tried. But if no Impediment be alleged, the Cu- 
rate is to proceed in manner and form as the next sec- 
tion will declare. 

Sect. IV, Of the Espousals, 

*• 1 HE Solemnization of Matrimony being a formal The asking 
compact, it is requisite, in the first place, that the mutual t^eirmutu- 
Consent of the parties be asked, which is so essentially 
necessary, that the Marriage is not good without it. 
And therefore we find that Rebekah's friends asked her 
consent before they sent her away to Isaac''^ And in 
the firmest kind of Marriage among the Romans, which 
they called Coemption, the parties themselves mutually 
asked this of each otber'*^. This therefore being so mo- 
mentous a custom, is for that reason taken into the Chris- 
tian offices : only among Christians the question is pro- 
posed by the Priest, that so the declaration may be the 
more solemn, as being made in the immediate presence 
of God, and to his deputed Minister. 

The Man therefore is asked, Whether he will have this 
Woman to his wedded Wife ; and the Woman, Whether 
she will have this Man to her wedded Husband, to live to* 
gethcr after God^s ordinance m the holy estate of Matri- 
mony, And that they may the better know what are 
the conditions of this state, the Minister enumerates the 
duties which each of them by this covenant will b^ 
bound to perform. 

§. 2. The Man,for instance, is obliged, in the first place, ^^^^"^^^ 
to love his Wife, which is the principal duty required by duty. 
St. Paul''^, and is here mentioned first, because if the Man 
hath this affection, he will perform with delight all the 
other duties ; it being no burden to do good offices to 

47 Genesis xx'iv. 58. lex. ab Alex. Gen.Dier.l. «. c. 5. 

48 Boeth. Comment, in Topic. 49 Epheg. v, 25, 
Ciceron. p. 157. Venet. 1583. A- 



444 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony^. 

Chap. X. those whom we heartily and sincerely love. 2. He must. 
comfort her, which is the same that St. Paul expresses by 
cherishmg^^, and impHes here, that the Husband must 
support his Wife under all the infirmities and sorrows, 
to which the tenderness of her sex often makes her lia- 
ble. 3. He is to honour her, which is also directly com- 
manded by St. Peter" : for though the Wife, as he says, 
be the weaker Vessel, yet she must not be despised, for 
those unavoidable weaknesses which God has been 
pleased to annex to her constitution, but rather respect- 
ed for her usefulness to the Man's comfortable being*. 
4. He must keep her in sickness and health, which in St. 
Paul's phrase is to nourish^^, or to afford her all necess- 
aries in every condition. Lastly, he must consent to be 
faithful to her, ^md forsaking all other, keep himself only 
to her so long as they both shall live^^ ; which is added to 
prevent those three mischievous and fatal destroyers of 
Marriage, Adultery, Polygamy, and Divorce, 
The §« 3. There is no difference in the duties, nor conse- 

\yife's quently in the terms of the covenant between a Man and 
4w*J.- his Wife ; except that the Woman is obliged to obey and 

serve her Husband Nor is this a difference of our own 
devising, but is expressly ordered by God himself, who, 
in those places of Scripture where he enjoins Husbands 
to love their Wives, commands the Wives to be subject 
and obedient to their Husbands^^. The rules alsd of 
Society make it necessary ; for equality, saith St. Chry- 
sostom^^ breeds contention, and one of the two must be 
superior, or else both would strive perpetually for the 
dominion. Wherefore the laws of God, and the wisdom 
of all nations, hath given the superiority to the Husband. 



* If the Greek of this verse was differently pointed, the 
foundation of the honour to be given unto the Wives would 
not be their weakness, but their being coheirs with their 
Husbands of the Grace of Life ; which seems t<» make the 
Apostle's meaning clearer. Likewise ye Husbands dwell 
with your Wives according; to knowledge, the Female boing 
the weaker vessel, giving them honour, as being heirs together 
of the grace of life. 



50 Ephes. V 29. 10. 

51 1 Pet. ill. j: 54 Ephes v. 22. 24. Col. Hi. 18. 

52 £phe^. V. 29. Til. ii. . 1 Pet^r iii. i. 5, 

53 Mai. ii. 1&, 16, 1 Cor. vii. 55 la 1 Cor. xi. 3. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 44 J 

Among the Romans, the Wife was obliged by law to be Sect. IV. 
subject to her Husband, and to call him Lord^^ ; out — — "~- 
then they had a peculiar magistrate to take care that 
the Men did not abuse this power, but that they should 
rule over their Wives with gentleness and tenderness*^. 
Wherefore Women may and ought to pay all that obe- 
dience which the Gospel requires of them : nor have 
they any reason (especially with us) to complain with 
Medea, that they are sold for slaves with their own money^\ 
because there is really no slavery in obedience which 
springs from love, and is paid in respect to the nobler 
sex, and in requital for that protection which the weak- 
er sex both needs and enjoys in the state of Matrimony. 
So t=iat it is not only an impious contempt of divine au- 
thority, but egregious pride and folly, for any Woman 
to refuse either to promise or pay this obedience; which 
is her chief advantage, if she hath wisdom to understand, 
or skill to manage it right. 

§. 4. The whole matter being thus proposed to each q,jjg ^^_ 
party, they should each of them seriously weigh and swer of 
consider it. And if they like this state of life, and the the par- 
duties annexed to it ; if they neither of them have any ^'*^- 
objection against the person of the other, but are per- 
suaded they can each of them love the other, and that 
for ever, in all conditions of life ; let each of them an- 
swer as the church directs them, / mV/; which are the 
proper words that oblige in compacts*^, but which can 
never lay a more solemn obligation than when they are 
pronounced upon this occasion. For if we start back 
after speaking them here, we shall have as many witness- 
es of the falsehood, as there are persons present at the 
solemnity, viz, God and his Angels, the Minister and the 
Congregation : and therefore in regaril to so venerable 
an assembly, let them here be pronounced with all de- 
liberate gravity, and for ever made good with all possi- 
ble sincerity. 

§. 5. This solemn declaration of the parties consent E?pousalp, 
seems to be the remains of the old form of Espousals, what they 
which was different and distinct from the office o( Mar- ^^^^'^ ^^^' 
riage, and which was often performed some weeks, or ^^^^' 
months, or perhaps years before^" ; and, as Florentinus 

56 Ulpian. L. alia 14. D. soliit. 58 Eurip. ia Medea. 
Matrimon. Et L. ea quse 57. D de 59 Justinian. Institut. 1. 3. de 
Donat. inter Virura et Ux. itemque Verb. Oblig. Tit. 16. 

Servias ad 1. 4. iEneid. 60 Carol. Mag, Leg. 1. 1. cAS3. 

57 Cicero de Repub. lib. 4* 



446 Of the form of SoJemnizaiion of Matrimony* 

chap. X. defines them, were no more than the promise of future 
-■ - Marriage^^; which however they thought was not prop- 

er to be left to be made in private, as a mere civil con- 
tract; and therefore they ordered that it should be sol- 
emnly made in the presence of a Minister who should use 
prayers and blessings suitable to the occasion. And 
hence it is that, in the Greek church, there are to be 
seen to this day two different offices, viz, the one of Es- 
pousals, and the other of Mamage'^^. But it oftentimes 
happening that the deferring the Marriage caused the 
parties espoused to break their engagement, Leo Philos- 
ophus, an Emperor of the East, commanded by an edict, 
that the Espousals and Marriage should be both per- 
formed on the same day^^ Some attempts indeed were 
made by Alexis Comnenus to restore the old custom of 
having some time intervene between®'*. But it does not 
appear that he succeeded in his attempts ; for Goar tells 
us (and the present Greek rubric hints as much^*) that 
the usual custom of the modern Greeks is to use both 
offices at the same time. And it is probable that in the 
West, as well as in the East, the custom of celebrating 
the Espousals and Nuptials at the same time did long ob- 
tain, and at last occasion both offices to be united in one. 
So that this declaration is the remains of the ancient of- 
fice of the Espousals.^ and the following stipulation the 
And how Marriage properly so called. Accordingly the declar- 
supplied ation is made in the/w/?^rc tense, by which Espousals 
"^^* used to be made*^*: whereas the stipulation runs in the 

present tense, which is necessary to make and confirm a 
Marriage^^ Besides, the declaration is made without 
any ceremony, simply and directly like the ancient Es- 
pousals^^ ; whereas the mutual stipulation is accompani- 
ed with divers significant rites, such as the delivering the 
Woman into the hands of the man, joining their hands, 
and the like, which are the known and proper ceremo- 
nies of Marriage. And indeed that the declaration is 
not properly a circumstance of the Marriage, is plain from 

61 Florentin. 1. 1. D. de SpoD- 66 Decret. Greg. 1. 4- de Spon- 
sal. sal. et Matrioion. Tit. 1. c 15. 

62 Vide Enchologin. Pet. Lombard. J. 4 dist. 28. 

63 Leo Philos. Imp. NoveL 74. 67 Constit. Richardi Ep. Sarum 

64 Alex. Comnen. Novel, de apnd Spelman. Concil. torn. ii. 
Spoil -:i. I. 2 Jur Orient. A. D 1217. 

65 El fjih ^ovKovretiiv r' dvr(f 68 Franc. Hotman. de Sponaal. 
^tpAta>-&iivAt. Rubric, ante Offic. p. 3r5. 

Coiunat. Eocholog. pa^. 383. 



Of the form of Solemnization oj Matrimony. 44T 

the Minister's asking, after it is made, Whogiveththe Wom^ Sect. V. 
an to be married to the Man ? For that evidently implies " 
that she is even yet in the power of another, and conse- 
quently that she is still to be married to the Man. 

Sect. V. Of the Solemnization of the Marriage. 

I. '^PHE two parties having now declared their consent TheSoI- 
to take each other for Husband and Wife, and having emnization 
solemnly ens;aged that they will each of them observe jJaJrtaee. 
the duties which God has annexed to that slate ; they 
proceed, in the next place, to the immediate celebration 
of the Marriage itself, which is introduced with a very 
ancient and significant ceremony ; I mean, the Father'^s The Fath-- 
or Friend^ giving the Woman in Marriage, The antiqui- ^^ ?^ 
ty of which rite is evident from the phrase so often used j"e° he^ 
in Scripture, of giving a Daughter to fVife^^ : and the uni- Woman* 
versality of it appears from its being used both by 
Heathens and Christians in all ages^^ The foundation 
of the practice seems to be a care of the female sex, who 
are always supposed to be under the tuition of a father 
or guardian, whose consent is necessary to make their 
acts valid'^^ And therefore before the Minister proceeds 
to the Marriage, he asks. Who gives the Woman to be mar- 
ried to the Mant Which shows too, by the way, that the 
Woman does not seek a Husband, but is given to one by 
her parents or friends, whose commands in this affair she 
seems rather to follow than her own inclinations''^ For 
which cause, among the nuptial rites of the old Romans, 
the Bride was to be taken by a kind of violence from her 
mother's knees^'; and when she came to her husband's 
house, she was not to go in willingly, but was to be car- 
ried in by force^^; which, like this ceremony of ours, 
very well suited with the modesty of her sex. 

§. 2. But besides this, there is a farther meaning in- And the 
tended by the church: for it is to be observed, that the M'n>st«rto 
Woman is to be given not to the Man^ but to the Minis- herf^^^ 
ter : for the rubric orders, that the Minister shall receive 

69 Gen. xxix. 19. ch. xxxiv.l6. 71 See Hooker's Ecclesiastical 

Josh. XV. 16. 1 Sam. xvii. 25.ohap. Polity, J. 5- §. 73. 

xviii. 17. Psal. Ixxviii. 64. Luke 72 Ambros. de Abraham. 1. 1. 

xvii. 27. 1 Cor. vii. 38. c. 9. torn. i. col. 201. I. 

70 Cic. Orat pro Flac. A- 73 Virg. ^nied, 10. yer 79. 

pul. ApoL 2. Praescr. Aug. de 74 Pint. Qjiaest. Rorn. torn. ii. 

Gen€f. ad lit. 1. 11. c. 41. torn. iii. pag. 271. C. D. Francof. 1620. 
part. 1 col. 2i»5. C. 



448 Of the form of Solemnization of Malrimonfj, 

Chap. X. /igy. di her Fathtr's or Friend^ s hands ; uhich signifies, to 
be sure, that the Father resigns her up to God, and that 
it is God, who, by his Priest, now gives her in Marriage, 
and who provides a Wife for the Man, as he did at tirst 
for Ada m^^ 
Joining of H. Accordingly the Minister, who has nowthedispo- 
an^atuTient '^^ ^^ ^^^' ^^'^vers her into the possession of the Man, as 
ceremony, ^e afterwards docs the man into the possession of the 
Woman, by causing each of them to take the other by the 
right hand. The joirting of hands naiur^Wy signifies con- 
tracting a friendship, and making a covenant^^ . and the 
r%/i//iawc? especially was esteemed so sacred, that Cicero 
calls it th€ Witness of our Faith"^^ : and therefore the join- 
ing of these being used in all covenants, no wonder it 
should be observed in the solemn one of Marriage. Ac- 
cordingly we find it has been used, upon this occasion, 
The mil- ^J Heathens^^ Jews^^ and Christians in all ages^^ 
tual stip- m* The Minister therefore having thus joined iheir 
Illation. right hands, causes them, in the next place, to give their 
troth, by a mutual stipulation. And, as our lawyer's tell 
us, that in a deed of conveyance four things are necess- 
ary, viz» 1. The Premises, containing the names of the 
person, and of the thing to be conveyed : 2, The Hab- 
endum and Tenendum ; 3. The Limitations ; and, 4. The 
Sealing^^ : so here the compact seems to be drawn up 
exactly answerable to these four rules. For, first, each 
party name themselves, and specifying the other, as the 
individual person whom they have chose, declare the 
end for which they take, viz. to be zoedded Husband and 
Wife. Secondly, The manner of taking is expressed in 
those ancient words, to have and to hold, which are words 
(saith Lhtleton^^) of such importance, that no convey- 
ance can be made without them : and therefore they 
ought not to be omitted here, because the Man and the 
Woman are now to put themselves into the power and 
possession of each other; insomuch that after this stip- 
ulation </ie Wife hath not power of her own Body, but the 
Husband; and likewise the Husband hath not power of his 

75 Genesis ii. 23. Xenophon Cjropaecl.l. 8. Servius 

76 2 Kin^? x. 15. Prov. xi. 2!. in Virgil. K'.\. 4 ver. 104. 

77 Dextrae quae fidei testes esse 79 Tobit vii. 13. 

solebant. Cicero See also Virgil, 80 Greg". Naz. Ep. 57. ad Anj?. 

En Dextra, Fidcfqne. See also 81 Lord Coke oa Littleton's 

Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 1. 2. Tenures, c. 1. 

c. 19. 82 A aver et tener. LittL c. 1- 

78 Alex, ab Alex. 1. 2. c. 5. p. 1. Lord Coke. ibid. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 449 

own Body, but the Wife,^^. Thirdly, the time of entering Sect. V. 
Ijpon, and the time of enjoying, the possession conveyed, — 
is here expressly declared. It is to begin immediately 
from the nuptial day, and to continue during their mutu-r 
al lives, From this day forward — till death us do part. And 
iest any inconveniences appearing afterward should be 
alleged for the breaking this sacred contract, here is 
added a protestation, that the obligation shall continue 
in full force, notwithstanding any future unexpected 
changes. They are to have and to hold for better fo^- 
worse, in respect of their mind and manners ; for richer 
for poorer, in respect of their estate ; and whether in 
sickness or in healthy in respect of their body. Now all 
these are added to prevent the scandalous liberties of 
divorce, which was practised upon every trifling occa- 
sion among Jews and Romans^^ : insomuch that one of 
their rabbles had impiously affirmed it to be suffici- 
ent for divorce, if another Woman was better liked by 
the Man". But this being so contrary to the nature of 
Marriage, it is necessary it should be removed from all 
Christian societies : which cannot be more effectually 
done than by a particular recital at the time of Marriage, 
of all the cases which may be pretended as the causes 
of a future dislike^ And to prevent any objection, I 
suppose, that might afterwards be imagined from either 
party's declining in their comeliness or beauty, the 
York Manual, that was used in the nothern parts of En- 
gland before the Reformation, had an addition of the 
words, for fairer for fouler, (for it must be observed, that 
this mutual stipulation was always in English amongst 
our English Papists, even when all the office besides was 
in Latin ;) which Mr, Selden translates, sivtpulchriorfu' 
eris, sive invenusiior^^, i. e. whether thou shalt be more 
or less handsome or comely. In all these conditions the 
engagement is the same, viz. the Man is to love and to 
cherish his Wife, and the Woman to lave, cherish, and to 
obey her Husband ; i. e. each of them must have the same 
regard for the other, and pay those duties which I have 
already showed to be necessary and indispensable, 
whatsoever accidental varieties may happen. In the 
old Salisbury Manual, (that was used in the southern 

83 1 Cor. vli. 4. Prayer, folio edition, page 667' 

84 Matt. six. 3. 86 Seld. Uxor. Ebraic, J. 2. o. 

85 Rabbi Akiba, as cited by 27. p. 197. 
Doctor Comber on the Common 

Tii 



450 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 

Chap. X. parts of England in the times of Popery, as I have ob- 

•^ ~ served the York Manual was in the nothcrn,) instead of 

the Woman's stipulating to /ore, cherish^ and to obey her 
Husband, she engaged to he bonair and bnxnm in beddc 
and at horde : and so in the York Manual, the Minister 
in asking the Woman's consent, instead of demanding of 
her, whether she vvcijld serve and obey her Husband, 
asked her, whether she would be buxum to him. From 
whence we may observe, that whatever meaning these 
words have been perverted to since, they originally sig- 
nified no more than to be mefk and obedient. Accor- 
dingly, meek and obedient are added in the margin of the 
Manual to explain them ; and so they are interpreted 
in the Saxon dictionaries, agreeably to which they are 
translatied by Mr. Selden, Ero ojficiosa ac obediens^"^. But 
to return to our present form : the next particular is the 
rule by which the compact is made, viz. according to 
God's holy Ordinance, The words before the Reforma- 
tion were, if holy church it woll ordaine.^^^ i. e, I suppose, 
if there be no ecclesiastical law to the contrary. But I 
think the modern words are better ; which may either 
be referred to every part of the present stipulation, so 
ns to imply that all the branches thereof are agreeable 
to the divine institution ; or else they may be peculiar- 
ly applied to the two last clauses, that each of the par- 
ties will love and cherish^ «^c. the other till death part them ; 
which, I have showed, is according to the ordinance of 
God. Lastly, here is the ratification of all the former 
particulars in the ancient form, and thereto I plight, (as 
the Man says :) or, (as the Woman,) I give thee my troth ; 
i. e. for the performance of all that has been said, each 
of them laj^s their faith or truth to pledge : as much as 
if they had said, If I perform not the covenant I have 
made, let me forfeit my credit, and never be counted 
jost, or honest, or faithful more. 
The Ring \y. But, besides the invisible pledge of our fidelity, 
^ Viri«' f ^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^° obliged to deliver a visible pledge : which 
the ad Co- the rubrrc directs shall be a Ring ; which, by the first 
omption. Common Prayer-Book of King Edward VI. was to be 
accompanied with other tokens of Spousdge, as Gold or Sil- 
ver, This lets irs into the meaning and design of the Ring, 
8nd intimates it to be the remains of an ancient custom, 
whereby it was usual for the Man to purchase the Wo- 

87 UxorEbraic. 1. 2. c. 27. pag. 88 See Ihe old Marnals, and 
J 94. " Sftlden, ut supra, pag. 194. 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 45 1 



Sect. V. 



man, laying flown for the price of her a certain sum of 
njoney^^,orelse performing certain articles or conditions, 
which the lather of the damsel would accept of as an 
equivalents^. Among the Romans this was called Coemp- 
tion or Purchasing, and was accounted the firmest kind, 
of Marriage which they had ; and from them was deliv- 
ered down amongst the western Christians, by whom the 
custom is still preserved in the Ring°^ ; which is given as 
a pledge, or in part of payment of the dowry that the Wo- 
man is to be entitled to by the Marriage ; and by the ac- 
ceptance of which the Woman, at the same time, declares 
herself content, and in return espouses or makes over 
herself to the Man. Accordingly in the old Manual for 
the use of Salisbury, before the Minister proceeds to the 
Marriage, he is directed to ask the Womaii's Dowry, viz. 
the tokens of Spoils age : and by these tokens ofSpousa^e art 
to be understood Rings^ or Money ^ or some other things to 
be given to the Woman by the Man ; xahich said giving is 
called Snbai'ration, (i. e. Wedding or.Covenanting,) espeC' 
ially when it is done by the giving of a Ring. 

The reason why a Ring was pitched upon for the 
pledge, rather than any thing else, I suppose was, be- 
cause anciently the Ring was a Seal^ by which allordera ^.j^ 
were signed, and things of value secured^^ ; and therefore Ring Tath- 
the delivery of it was a sign that the person, to whom it er than 
was given^ was admitted into the highest friendship and ^"7 ^^^^^ 
trust^^ For which reason it was adopted as a ceremo- 
ny in Marriage, to denote that the Wife, in consideratioii 
of her being espoused to the Man, was admitted as a 
sharer in her Husband's counsels, and a joint partner iu 
his honour and estate : and therefore vve find that not 
only the Ring^ but the Keys also were in former times 
delivered to her at the Marriage^*. That the Ring was 
in use amongst the old Romans, we have several un- 
doubted testimonies^'. And that the use of it was not 
owing to any superstition amongst them, we have the 
authority of Tertullian, a very ancient father of the 
Christian church^^ Pliny indeed tells us, that, in his 

8J> Gen. xxxiv. 12. Exod. xxii. 93 Genesw xli. 42. 

17. Deut. xxii. 2<». 94 Aot. Uotman. de Vet. Rif. 

90 Gen. xxix. 18, 27, 30. 1 Sam. Nuptiar. c. 25. 

xvii. 25. and chap, xviii. 17, 25. 95 Juvenal. Sat. 6. ver. 26, 27. 

91 Selden. Uxor Ebraic. J. 2. Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. 3. c. 1. Tertul.. 
c. 25. pag. 183, 184. Apol. c. 6. p. 7. A. 

92 Gen. xxxviii. 18. Esther iii. 96 De Idol. c. 16. 
10, 12. I Maccab. vi. 15. 



hy a 



Why a 
Gold one. 



What inti 
Eoafed by 
its round- 
ness. 



An an- 
cient and 
universal 
rite. 



452 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 

Chap. X. time, the Romans used an Iron Ring, without any Jew. 
,,,^_ ~ el^^l but Teriullian hints, that in the former ages it was 
a Ring of Gold^^ ; which being the nobler and purer met- 
al, and continuing longer uncorrupted, was thought to 
intimate the generous, sincere, and durable afiection, 
which ought to be between the married parties^^. As to. 
the form of it, being round (which was the most perfect 
of all figures, and was used by the ancients as the hiero- 
glypliic of Eternity) was understood to imply, that the 
conjugal love should never have an end^ 

l^ut these seem only allegorical significations : the use 
of it, we have seen, was instituted at first to imply some- 
thing more ; viz, that the Woman, in consideration of a 
certain dowry contracted for by the Man, of which the 
Ring is delivered as an earnest and pledge, espouses and 
ipakes over herself to him as his Wife, With this sig- 
nification it has been used by Christians in all ages, and 
all parts of the church^ ; and for the same intent it is 
prescribed by our own, as is evident from the words 
which are spoken at the delivery of it, and from the 
prayer which follows immediately after; where the giv- 
ing and receiving it is called a token and pledge of the Vow 
and Covenant betwixt them made. The same is practised 
hy the modern Jews^, who it is not likely would have 
taken up the custom in imitation of the Christians, and 
who therefore probably received it from their forefath- 
ers. Good reason therefore had our judicious Reform- 
ers to retain a rite so ancient and universal, and which 
even Bucer himself (who, one would think, was as scru- 
pulous as any man need to be) thought fit to approve of 
as decent and proper*. 
Why laid §, 2. Before the Ring may be given to the Woman, 
ijpon the j^ijg jyjgj^ j^^gj. ^^^ ^-^ ^^^^ ^^^ Book^ with the accustomed 

duty to the Priest and Clerk. And the Priest taking the 
Ring shall deliver it unto the Man, intipiating, to be 
sure, that it is our duty to offer up all we have to God 
as the true proprietor, before we use them ourselves ; 
and to receive them as from his hand to be employed 
towards his glory. 



97 Plin. ut supra. 

98 Apoi. c. 6. page 7. A. 

99 Scalig^. Poet. I. 3. c. 100. 

1 Scalig. ib. iMd. de Divin. Of- 
fice. 1. 2. c. 15. Vide et Rationalia 
Divin. Officior. 

2 Cl'=m. Alex. Paedag. 1. 3. c 
11. p. 215. C. Ambr. I 14. Ep. 



34. liidor. Hyepal. Etymol. 1. 19. 
c. 32. p. 268 et de OfBo. Eccl. 1. 
2. c. 19. p. 608. coU 2. C. et D, 
3 Biixtorf. Synag. Judaic, c. 
39. p. 633. and Ockley's History 
oi' the present Jews, page 170, 
171. 
4 Bucer. Censur. pag, 488. 



Of the form of Solemnizalion of Matrimontj, 453 

§. 3. When the Man espouses his Wife with it, he is Sect. V, 

io put it upon the fourth finger of her left hand* The rea- 

son of this, the rubric of the Salisbury Manual says, is ^^^y P"* 

, r ' , , 1 "^ • 1 •^- upoD the 

because iroin thence there proceeds a particular vein to fourth fin, 

the heart. This indeed is now contradicted by experi- ?erof the 
ence : but several eminent authors, as well Gentiles as J^/'"?^"'? 
Christians, as well Physicians as Divines, were former- 
ly of this opinion ; and therefore they thought this fin- 
ger the properest to bear this pledge of love, that from 
ithence u might be conveyed, as it were to the heart^. 
However, the moral may safely be retained, viz. That 
the Husband hereby expresses the dearest love to his 
spouse, which ought to reach her heart, and engage her 
affections to him again. If we should add the other 
reason of placing the Ring upon this finger, mV. its being 
the least active finger of the hand least used, upon which 
therefore the Ring may be always in view, and yet least 
subject to be worn out: this also may teach us, that the 
two parties should carefully cherish each other's love, 
that so it may endure and last for ever. 

§* 4. The Man holding the Ring therefore upon this fin.' The words 
ger^ being taught by the Priest^ and speaking to his Wife, explained, 
he assures her, that this is a visible pledge that he now 
takes her to his wedded Wife; with this Ririg I theezved^ ^i^j^ ^j^j^ 
or make a covenant with thee, (for so the word signi- Ring I 
fies*,) that ail the rights and priveliges of a lawful Wife ^hte wed. 
do from this instant belong to thee. After these words, 
in the first book of King Edward VI. followed, This Gold 
and Silver I thee give ; at the repeating of which words 
it was customary to give the Woman a purse of money, 
as Livery and Seisin of their Estate : but this was left 
out of the second book, probably because it was more 
than some people could perform. Besides, by what has 
been said, it appears that the design of it is fully enough 
answered by the delivery of the Ring. 

The Man therefore having wedded her with the Ring, 
in the next words proceeds to assign over the rights ac- 
cruing to her thereby. The first of these is Honour, and 
therefore he immediately adds. With my body I thee wor- With my 
ship ; i. e. with my body I thee honour ; for so the word ^/^^^ ^ 

5 Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 1. 3. c. 14. AtreiusCapit. in Macrob. 

2. c. 19. Appian. in lib* Ee:ypt. et Saturn. 1. 7. c 13, Levinus Lemn. 

ex 60 Aul. Gel. Noct. Attic. 1. 10. et Forestas ap. Brown, 
c. 10. Isidor. Hyspal. in locis su- 6 See the Saxon dictionaries, 
pra citatis, Darand, Rational. 1. 



454 Gf the form of Sohmnization of Matrimony. 

-^ifl ^'?"*^'^^^ ^" ^^^'s V^^^^ 5 and so Mr. Selden^ and before 
him 3Iartin Bucer^ who Jived at the time when our Lit- 
urgy was compiled, have transhUed it. The design of 
it is to express that the Woman, by virtue of this Mar- 
riage, has a share in all the titles and honours which are 
due or belong to the person of her Husband^ It is true, 
the modern sense of the word is somewhat different : for 
which reason, I find, that at the review of our Liturgy, 
after the Restoration of King Charles II, worship was 
promised to be changed for Honour^^. How the altera^ 
tion came to be omitted I cannot discover : but so long 
as the old word is explained in the sense that I have 
given of it, one would think no objection could be urged 
against the using it*. 
And with But to proceed : the second right accrueing to the 
wiiMdl ^^^^f t»y virtue of her Marriage, is Maintenance ; and 
Goods^I therefore the Husband adds, in the next place, With all 
thee en- ^y worldly Goods I thee mdoio. And those that retain 
dow* the old custom of giving the Woman Gold and Silver, 
take the opportunity of these words to deliver to her a 
purse. But I have showed that formerly other words 
were provided for the doing of this : and the design of 
the words I am now speaking of, is not so much to invest 
the Woman with a right to all her Husband's goods, as 
to declare that by Marriage she has acquired such right. 
For from the very instant of their making the mutual 
stipulation, the Woman has a right to sue for a mainten- 
ance during the life of her husband, should he be so 
brutish as to deny it ; and after his decease, is entitled 
to a third, or perhaps a larger share (according to the 
laws of the place where she lives) in all her Husband's 
goods and chattels, and may farther demand what the 

7 Corpore meo (e dignor. Uxor 9 Hooker's Ecclesiastical Poli^ 

Ebraic. 1. 2. c. 27. pag. 206. fy, 1. 5. J. 73. 

8 Cum meo Corporate honoro. lO See the Papers that passed 
Uucer. Script. Auglican. p. 443. be-tween the Commissi oners, &c. 

page ult, 

* " To worship" says Shepherd, *' here means to honour with all 
civil re?pect and reverence ; to inako worsliipful or honourable. Thus 
■|i 1 Sam. ii. 30, the old translation vva«, '^ him that worships me, \ 
will worship ;" that is 1 will make worshipful or honourable : for the 
words can admit of no other signification, when God is said to worship 
ajan, or a man promises to worshi}) his wife. In this sense the term 
ii used by the oldfjr Er.glij-h writer-, and worshipful is a title still giv- 
<-ii to a civil magi?irate, to a Justicf; of the Peace, or a bench of Jus- 
tice?.'" However, to remove all objections, the clause in questioa was 
omitted in the American Prayer Book. — Am, Ed. 



Of the form of Solemnization oj Matrimony. 455 

kvv calls her Quarrantine^ which is lodging and main- Sect. V. 
lenance in his best mansion-house for forty days after 
Ills death". 

Nor is this either a new or an unreasonable privilege ; 
for it was a law of Romulus, the first King of the Romans, 
that the wedded Wife, who was married to a Man ac- 
cording to the sacred laws, was to have all that he had 
in common with himself^^. And the same is affirmed long 
after by Cicero, viz, that they ought to have one house, 
and all things common^^ For this reason the Roman 
laws would not allow of donations to be made between 
a Man and his Wife, because they were to enjoy their 
estates in common^^ ; which community of goods they 
also expressed by offering the Wife Fire and fVater at 
her first coming into her Husband^s house, and by that 
usual expression, Ubi lu Caius^ ego Caia, where you are 
Master, 1 am Mistress". Nor did this only continue dur- 
ing his life: for the laws of Rome appointed the Wife 
to be the sole heir, when her husband died without issue; 
and if he left children, she was at least to have a child's 
part, and to be reckoned as a daughter^^ Only it is to 
be noted, that during the Husband's life, the Wife has 
no power to alienate or dispose of any thing without her 
Husband's consent, but only to enjoy and use it as there 
is occasion. The same privileges undoubtedly belong 
to the Wives of Christians; and indeed reason deter- 
mines very strongly on their side. The Woman assigns 
all that she is possessed of to her Husband at the Mar- 
riage ; and what less can the Man do in return of such 
kindness, and in compensation for what he enjoys by her, 
than invest her with the enjoyment of what is his ? Even 
the barbarous Gauls were used to give as much out of 
their own estates, as they received in portion with their 
Wives, and out of those two sums to make provision for 
the Woman, if she survived the Man^^ And surely 
Christians should not come behind the Heathens in such 
reasonable duties, it being unjust and unworthy to suffer 
any person to sustain damage by their kindness, where 
we are able to requite them. 

11 Selden. Uxor Ebraic. I. 2. Nupl. c. 18. 

c. 27. p. 202. 16 Dion. Halicarn. 1. 2. Ulpiaa. 

12 Dion, Halicarn. 1. 2. Fragm. Tit. 22. }. sui llaeredes, 

13 Offic. I, 1. Aul. Gel. 1. 18. c. 6. 

14 Pint. L. de Praecept. Connub. 17 C^snr. de BeU. Gallic. lib. 
15 Ant. Hotman. de Vet. Rit. 6. 



4 a6 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 



In the 
Name of 
♦he Father, 
&c. 

The 
Prayer. 



Chap. X. But to conclude : The last part of these words, In the 
" name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
Amen, are a solemn confirmation of the engagement here 
made, being an invocation of the sacred Trinity as wit- 
ness to this compact, who will therefore undoubtedly re- 
venge the perjury on those who break it. 

V. And now the covenant being finished, it is very 
requisite we should desire a blessing on it : for even the 
Heathens looked upon their Marriage-Covenant as in- 
auspicious, if it were not accompanied with a sacrifice^*. 
And therefore Christians sure can do no less than call 
upon the divine Majesty upon the like occasion. For 
this reason, the Man leaving the Ring upon the fourth Fin- 
ger of the Womaii's left Hand, and both of ihem kneeling 
down, the Minister begs for them the blessing of God, 
that they may always perform and keep the covenant 
which they have now been making.* 

VI. And as it was an ancient custom among the Ro- 
mans, and other Heathens, for Masters to ratify the 
Marriages of their Servants ; so, since we profess to be 
the servants of God, it is necessary that he should con-* 
firm our contract. To which end the Priest, who is his 
representative, joining the Right Hands of the married 
persons together, declares, in the words of our blessed 
Lord*^, that they are joined by God, and that there^ 
fore no human power can separate them : Those whom 
God hath joined together, let no Man put asunder* 

VII. And now the holy covenant being firmly made, 
it ought to be duly published and proclaimed: and 
therefore the Minister, in the next place, speaking unto 
the People, and recapitulating all that has been done be- 
tween them, makes proclamation that the Marriage is 
legal and valid, and pronounces that they be Man and 



The Rati- 
fication, 



J'he Pub- 
lication. 



* In this prayer, as it stood in King Edward's first Litur- 
gy, there was a parenthesis, I suppose alluding to the Ring^ 
which was afterwards left out, viz. That as Isaac and Re- 
becca [after Bracelets and Jewels of Gold given of the one ta 
the other Jar Tokens of their Matrimony) lived faithftdly to- 
gether ; so these persons, Sfc. 



18 Ant. Hotman. de Vet. Rit. saur. Antiq. Roman, torn. 8, coL 
tipt. c. 29. opud Gr^vii The- 1141. C. 

19 Matt. six. 6. 



Of the form <\f Sohmnizaiion of Matrimony, 45f 

tVife together, in the Name, and by the Authority, of the Sect. \L 
Pather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. " 

VIII. With a blessing from whom this part of the The Bles- 
office is in the nekt place conchided. For the covenant sing, 
being made by the authority of God, the institution be- 
ing his, the method his, and he being the author, wit- 
ness, and ratifier of this contract ; what could be added 
more properly at the conclusion, than a solemn bene- 
diction, from that holy, blessed, and undivided Trinity, 
who is so many ways engaged to bless it ?* 

Sect. VI. Of the Introils, or Psalms* 

Tatl Marriage-Covenant being now completed, /As Why to 
jSlinister and Clerks, (of whom I have taken occasion to p *^/^® 
speak before***) are to go to the Lord'^s Table. For by all xable. 
the Common Prayer-Books till the last review, the new 
married persons were obliged to receive the holy Com* 
munion the same day of their Marriage"* Our present 
rubric indexed does not insist upon this ; for what rea- 
son it does not, I shall show by and by'*^. But it still 
declares it is convenient they should do so ; and there- 
fore, that, they may not omit it for want of being re- 
minded, they are ordered to accompany the Minister 
and the Clerks to the Lord'^s Table, 

§. 2. And whilst they are gotng, either the Minister or A pFalm, 
Clerks are to say or sing a prqper Psalm, which was ap* why to be 
pointed, I suppose, instead of the Introit, which, i have ^^'.^ whilst 
already showed^, was a Psalm some way or other thrLord's 

Table. 

♦ Here flie Marriage service in the American Prayer Book ends— By 
Ihe English rubricks the Marriage is required to be solemnized thus far 
"in the body of the church;*' the remainder of the office is directed 
to be used, ''goings to and at the Lord's Table." Shepherd conject^res 
ihat the Marriage ceremony was ordered to be solemnized in the bodp 
■of the Church, and Hot before the hordes Table, to show that Marriage 
was not a Sacrament. " Afe the motive" he adds, " arising from an- 
cient prejudice, for celcbratiog Matrimony in the Body of the Church, 
exists no longer, it may admit of a question, whether the whole office 
might not now be more properly performed in the chancel." In A,- 
inerica, though no place or time is appointed, yet the practice of celc* 
bruting Marriages in church, b gaining ground ; and in all such casos, 
the service, it is believed, is in all parts of the union performed at the 
rails of the altar, — Am^ Ed. 



20 See page^ 160, 161. Prayer-Books. 

21 See the Rubric at the end of 22 In the lastSection. 
tbe Office, in the old Common 23 Pare %\7, 

KKk 



458 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony* 

Chap. X. proper to the day, and said or sung whilst the Priest 

— was going to the Altar. 

How pro- §. 3. And it is certain that Psalms are very fit to at- 
pertothe tend a Marriage solemnity, which was ever reputed a 
so emnity. ^-^^ ^^ j^^^^ ^^^ generally attended with songs and mu- 
Fic. Solomon's spouse was brought to him with joy 
and gladness^'*, and in the nuptials of the Gentiles, noth- 
ing was more usual than minstrels and musical instru- 
ments, songs to Hymen, Epithalamiums, and Fescinine 
Verses^*. But these being expressions of a looser mirth 
than becometh Christians, the Chtfrch hath hallowed 
our joy, by choosing holy Psalms for the exercise vtnd 
expression of it, in obedience to the precept of the apos- 
tle St. James, who, when we are metry^ bids us sirig 
Psalms^\ 
Psalm §• ^* There are two appointed in this place for vari- 

cxxviii. ety ; but the first is generally used, as being more prop- 
er for the occasion, being thought by some to have been 
drawn up for an Epithalamium or Marriage Song^^ and 
- for that reason taken into the Marriage office by all 
Christians in the worldzs. 
Psalm §• 5. The other is proper to be used sometimes,when 

Ixvii. the age of the parties perhaps, not giving a prospect of 
the blessings mentioned in the foregoing Psalm, renders 
that not so suitable to the occasion. 

Se©t« VI L Of the Supplications and Prayers to be used 
at the hordes Tahiti 

TheLord'sl. THE Minister being got into the choir, and the 
Prayer and Man and the Woman kneeling before the Lord'*s Table, the 
tespoDses- Pf jgst, before he proceeds to the office for the Commun- 
ion, (which 1 have already hinted was the design of 
iheir coming hither,) offers up some farther Prayers and 
Supplications for a blessing upon the parties. These 
are introduced with the ancient form, Lord have mercy 
upon us, ^c. To which is immediately subjoined the 
Lord's Prayer, which sanctifies and makes way for all 
the rest. And being thus prepared, we proceed to some 

24 Psalm xiv. 15, 16. 27 Vide Mull. et. Muse, in 

25 Terent. Adelph. Act. 5. Psalm cxxviii. 

Seen. 7. Vide et Brisson. de Ri- 28 Vid. Eucholog. Offic. Coron, 
ip Nuptair. p. 83. el p. 90, 91. p. 386. et Manual, Sarisb. Ord 

26 James v. 13. Sponial fol. 39. 



0/ lilt form of Siilemnization of Matrimony, 459 

supplications chosen out of the Psalms^^, and put into the Sect. VII. 
form of versicles and responses, that all the company 
may show their love and affection to their friends, \)y 
publicly joining in these short petitions for thera. 

II. After these follow three Prayers to be usecj by The three 
the Minister alone ; the first being a prayer for spiritual '*y®"* 
blessings* ; the second for the temporal blessing of 
children, which is the chief end of Marriage, and 
which is the blessing that God pronounced at first to 
Adam and Eve^^ and which all mankind have ever 
since wished to new-married persons'* t, and which is 
therefore always to be asked at the solemnization of 
a Marriage, except the advanced age of the persons 
make our prayers milikely to prevail, in which case pur 
rubric has therefore ordered it to be omitted. The last 
prayer is made for the accomplishing of those duties 
which are aptly signified and implied by Marriage. 

ill. Last of all there is added a Blesging, the words TheBlcss- 
of which have an evident respect to the prayer imme- ing. 
diately foregoing ; which was pffered up upon such ex- 
cellent grounds, and with so great a probability of suc- 
cess, that the Priest may boldly venture to pronounce 
and ensure it to the parties, if they are but duly prepar- 
ed to receive it. 



* In the first of these p^^^ye^s, instead of the words— 
And as thou didst send thy pjessing upon Abraham and Sarah^ 
to their great comfort; in the Common Prayer of 1549, the 
expression was — And as thou didst send thy angel Raphael to 
Tobie and Sarah the daughter of Raguel^ to their great com- 
fort : but this alluding to an Apocryphal instance, it was, at 
the review in 15^1? better changed for a Canonical one. 

t In all the former books this was a hearty prayer for a 
long life to the new-married couple, the latter petition re- 
questing, that they might live together so long in godly love 
and honesty^ thai they might see their children's children^ un- 
to the third and fourth generation^ to God^s praise and Hon- 
or^ 4*c. In the following prayer also one of the petitions 
was a little differently expressed, viz. And also that this Wo- 
man may be loving and amiable to her Husband as Rachel^ 
wise as Rebecca^ faithful and obedient as Sarah ; and in all 
quietness,, ^c. 



29 Psalm Ixxxvi. 2. xx. 2. Ivj. 31 G«n. XXiT. 60. Ruth iv. 11 
3. li. 1. 12- 

30 Genesis i. 38. 



460 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony, 
Chap. X. 
' Sfigx. VIII. Of the Exhortation 

Imunn""' IN all tHc old Common Prayer-Books, (i. e. till the last 
Service to review) the rubric before this Exhortation was worded, 

begin thus : 

here, ^ Then [shall begin the Communion. And^] after the 

Gospel shall be said a Sermon, wherein ordinarily {so oft 
as there is any Marriage) the office of a Man and Wife 
shall be declared^ according to holy Scripture ; or^ if 
there be no Sermon, the Minister shall read this that fph 
loweth^ 

Why the rubric was altered, shall be shown in the, 
next section. In the mean while I shall observe, that, 
if the married persons are disposed to communicate, the 
office for the Communion must still begin immediately 
after the forementioned blessing. And after the Gospel 
and Nicene Creed, if there be no Sermon declaring the 
duties of Man and Wife, Uie Exhortation here appoint- 
ed is to be read instead of it. 

^f'^th^^if" §• 2. For the married persons having mutually en- 

hortation * ?^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ together according to God^s holy ordinance, 
i. e. according to those laws which he has ordained in 
his word ; it is very necessary they should hear and 
know what those laws are which they have engaged to 
perform. It was God's own command that the kings of 
Israel should have a copy of the law delivered to them 
at their Coronation^^; and there is the same reason to 
give this abstract to those that have taken upon them- 
selves the state of Matrimony. For which reason, in- 
stead of the Epistle and Gospel used in the offices of the 
Greek and Roman Ghurches^^, here is a full collection 
of the duties of both parties, drawn from the Epistles 
of two great Apostles, St, Peter and St. Paul, in imita- 
tion of the practice of the: primitive church, which^ 



* In the first book of King Edward the words between the 
crotchets [ ] were not inserted : but the design was the 
sanje, the Go§pe| being ordered upon account of the Com- 
munion, which was also enjoined by the last rubric of that 
book a<5 well as of the rest. 



32 Deut. xvi. 18, W. 2 Kings 33 Vide Eucholoff. et Miesal. 
.?i. 12. •*■ ■ . 



Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 4G1 

always after the celebratioo of a Marriage, exhorted ^^^^- '^• 
the parties to keep their matrimonial vow inviolate^^ 

Sect. IX. Of the last Rubric, 

At the end of the whole oflSce is added a rubric, de- How this 
ciaring, that it is convenient that the new married persons '"b"° waa 
should receive the holy Communion at the time of their formerlj. 
Marriage^ or at the first opportunity after their Marriage, 
In all the former Common Prayer-Books this rubric 
was more positive, fixing and appointing the day of 
Marriage for the time of communicating. The new 
married persons^ the same day of their Marriage, must re- 
ceive the holy Communion. And it was upon this ac- 
count, as 1 have already observed, that the latter part 
of the office was ordered to be performed at the Lord's 
Table, and that the Communion should be begun imme- 
diately after the blessing. 

The occasion of the alteration was an exception that 
was made against this rubric by the Dissenting Minis- 
ters, at the conference at the Savoy. They objected, 
that, '* this either enforced all such, as were unfit for the 
** Sacrament, to forbear Marriage, contrary to Scrip- 
•* ture, which approves the Marriage of all men ; or else 
*' compelled all that should marry to come to the Lord's 
"Table, though never so unprepared. And for this 
" reason, they desired the rubrics relating to the Cora- 
" munion mi^ht be omitted ; and the rather, JDCcause 
« that Marriage-festivals are too often accompanied with 
« such divertiseraents, as are unsuitable to those Chris- 
« tian duties, which ought to be before, and follow after 
« the receiving of that holy Sacrament^^" To this the 
Episcopal Ministers answered, " That this rubric en- 
•* forced none to forbear Marriage, but presumed (as 
« well it might) that all persons marriageable ought to 
tf be also fit to receive the holy Sacrament. And Mar- 
" riage being so solemn a covenant of God, they that 
« undertook it in the fear of God, would not stick to seal 
«« it by receiving the holy Communion, and accordingly 
^^ prepare themselves for it ; and therefore it would have 

34 Aug.de Civ. Dei, 1.1. c. 27. both Persuasions, &c. page 29* 

35 See an Account of the Pro- London, printed in 4to. 1661. 
.cecdings of the CommiwiMiers of 



462 Of the form of Solemnization of Matrimony. 

Chap. X. "been more Christian to have desired that those liceii^ 

" tious festivities might be suppressed, and the Commune 

" ion more generally used by those that married, of 
" which the happiness would be greater than could ea- 
"sily be expressed^V For which they quote that pas- 
sage in Tertullian, Unde sufficiam ad enarrandam felici-^ 
tatem ejus Matrimonii^ quod Ecclesia conciliate et confirmat 
Oblaiio'' ? 

This was an answer which the Presbyterians knew 
not how to get over : and therefore, as usual, they only 
return an unmannerly reply. However, to oblige them, 
the rubric is altered, and persons are not now expressly 
required to communicate at their Marriage, but only 
reminded that it is convenient so to do. 
The ad- But no serious person surely will think the Commun- 
comnfuni^ ^^^ l^ss proper or requisite, because the church has left 
eating on it more to their discretion. As to the objection of these 
the day of Puritans, that " Marriage-festivals are too often accom- 
^^'f'^ge- a panied with such divertisements as are unsuitable to 
" the Sacrament:'*' a sober man would be apt to think, 
that this should rather be a reason why the Sacrament 
should be joined to this office, viz. that the reverence of 
this holy institution might banish those vain and wicked 
revels from Christian marriages. And certainly since 
one must be spared, it is much better to part with a 
licentious custom than a religious duty. The passage 
of Tertullian, cited above, shows what opinion the 
primitive church had of a Marriage so decently solem- 
nized; and no office, I believe, but the Geneva Order^^ 
ever forbad, nor no Christians, I believe, but the Eng- 
lish Puritans, ever found fault with the administering 
of the Eucharist upon the Wedding-day : and neither 
of these, I dare say, will influence the good dispositions 
of considerate men. The sober and serious will still 
believe, that when this holy Sacrament attends the Nup- 
tials, the office will be esteemed more sacred and ven- 
erable, the persons will act more considerately and 
irravely, and the Marriage- Vow receive new strength 
• rora its being cpnfirmed by so solemn an engagement, 

r>6 5ee the Papcris (hat passed 37 Tertul. ad Uxor. 1. 2. c 8. 

Lctweerj the CommisfioncrF, fee. pa?. 171. D. 

P. 12$, 38 Ordin. Ecclcs. Gcije?* 134. 



Of the Ordtr of tht Visitation of the Sick. 4es 

CHAP. XL 

Of the Ordtr of the VISITATION of the SICK. 

The Introduction. 

In a world so full of casualties as this we live ip, in Chap. XL 

which Sickness and even Death sometimes interrupts -- 

the Marriage-soliemnities, it should be no matter of sur- ^^ ^^^ 
prise that this melancholy office is placed immediately pjaced^ 
after that of Matrimony. The Eastern Emperors next to 
thought it not unsuitable to choose the stone for their thatofMa- 
sepulchre on the day of their coronation^^ And it *"'"**°y* 
would not a little tend to temper and moderate the ex- 
uberant joys which sometimes attend the festivities of 
Marriage, if, by casting an eye on the following form, 
we should call to mind, that the next and longer scene 
may be calamitous. 

§. 2. It is certain that no age, nor sex, no state nor Visiting 
condition can secure us from Sickness : and therefore, ^^^ S'?^ ^ 
as no man should forget that it will, one day or other, cumbent 
come to be his own lot ; so should all men take care to upon all. 
comfort those who at present lie under this calamity. 
So that this is a duty which all Christians are obliged to, 
and to which great promises are annexed'*®, and which 
was therefore always esteemed, by the ancient fathers of 
the church, to be one of the most solemn exercises of 
religion**. 

§. 3. The Clergy more especially are expressly re- Especially 
quired to perform this duty by a divine command. For upon the 
though private friends may pray for us, and with us, Clergy 
yet we can by no means place such confidence in their 
prayers, as we may in those that are sent to heaven in 
our behalf, by such as are peculiarly commissioned to 
offer them. For this reason it is enjoined by Saint 
James^, that if any be sick, they call for the Elders of the Whom ffae 

Sick are to 

39 Dyonis. CarUius. de 4. No- 41 Tertul. de Cult. Fcem, I. 2. *®°^ ^'''' 
Ti88. Art. 14. c, 11. p. 15s;. C. 

40 Matt. XXV. 44, 45. Heb.xiii. 42 James v. li, 15. 
3. James i. 27. Ecclns. vii. 35. 



464 



Of the Order of the 



Chap; XI. 



At the be- 
ginoing of 
their Sick- 
ness. 



Who aire 
to go 
without 
delay. 



Whether 
Ihe Minij- 
trr b« con- 
fined to 
the pre- 
sent or- 
der. 



Church. From whence we may observe that the care 
of sending for the Minister is left to the Sick. For the 
Priest himself, it is very probable, may never have 
heard of his Sickness; or, if be has, may not be so 
good a judge when his visit will be seasonable, or when 
the party is best able to join with him. 

§. 4. For this reason it is ordered by the i*irbric, that 
when any person is sick, notice shall be given thereof to 
the Minister of the parish : i. e. not when th^ person is 
just expiring, (as is too often the case,) but when the 
distemper or disease first discovers its approach. To 
put it off lo the last scene of life, is to defer the office 
till it can do no good. For when the distemper is grown 
past recovery, to pray for his restoration is only to 
mock the Almighty : and what spiritual advantage can 
be proposed or expected from the Minister's assistance, 
to one who is unable to do any thing for himself? For 
this reason it is the advice of the wise man, that in the 
time of our Sickness we take care of our Souls in the 
first place, and then afterwards give place to the f*hysi- 
cian'*^. And among the ancient constitutions of this 
church, a strict charge is laid upon the bodily Physicians, 
thatj when they are at any time called to the Sick^ they do 
before all things persuade them to send for the Physician 
of Souls, that, when care is taken for the sick man's Spirity 
they may more successfully proceed to the remedies ofexter" 
nal medicines^*. 

§. 5. It is tbc sick person's duty therefore to give the 
Minister notice, and ihc Minister's to go when notice is 
given : for by the sixty-seventh canon of the church, it 
is ordered, that token any person is dangerously sick in any 
parish, the Minister or Curate {having knowledge thereof^ 
shall resort unto him or her {if the disease be not known or 
probably suspected to be infectious) to instruct and comfort 
them in their distress, according to ihe order of the Com^ 
munion-Book, if he be no Preacher ; or if he be a Preacher, 
then as he shall think most needful and convenient Which 
last words evidently allow ;i preaching Minister (that is, 
a Minister who is licensed to preach) theliberty of using 
cither this order, or any other, as h-e shall see conven- 
ient. And it is certain that the order prescribed by the 
Common Prayer-Book is very deficient in several cases^ 
For which reason Bishop Andrews and others have 



43 Eccliw. xxxvii. 10, 11, 12. mm. A. D. 1217* apud Spelm. 

44 Const'it. Richard. Episc. Sa- Concil. torn. ir. 



P'isiiaiion of the Sick, 465 

drawn up offices to supply the defect ; though it may be Sect. I. 

questioned, whether, by the Act for i.he Uniformity of • " 

public prayers, we be not restrained from private forms. 
At lecist it were to be wished that some more copious 
office was provided by authority, which might tak^ in 
the various conditions of the Sick, for which they that 
confine themselves to the present order are often at a loss. 

Sect. I. Of the Salutation, 

1 HE Minister of the parish coming into the sick man's '^^^ ^ala* 
house, is to say, Peace be to this house, and to all that ^ '°"* 
dwellin it : which is the same Salutation that our Sav- 
iour commanded his Apostles to use to every house into 
which they should enter'*^ And (which is particularly 
to our purpose) one main part of the Apostles' errand 
was to heal the Sich^K We know indeed the Apostles 
worked miraculous cures: however, when the gift was 
ceased, the Salutation remained ; which therefore we 
use to this very day in visiting the Sick, since we still 
go on the same charitable account, though not endued 
with the same power. And the sense of the words is 
\'ery suitable : for Peace signifies all outward Blessings, 
though when used in salutations, it generally imports 
Health. For which reason in Joseph's Inquiry^^ after 
the health of his father, though the Hebrew Text ex- 
presses it, Is there Peace to your Father? our Translation 
renders it, Is your Father well ? to which the Septuagint 
reading also exactly corresponds, viz. Is your Father in 
Health ? When therefore a family is visited with sick- 
ness or distress, what better Salutation can we use than 
this, viz. that they may all have Peace, i. e. Health and 
Prosperity ? And as the apostolical Salutation was not 
a mere compliment, but a real Benediction to those that 
were worthy'^^ ; so shall this of ours prevail for what we 
ask to that House which is prepared to receive it For 
which reason the Family should receive it with thank- 
fulness and faith, and welcome with joy the ambassador 
of Heaven, who in the time of their calamity, comes 
with health and salvation to their dwelling. 

45 Luke x. 5. 47 Genesis xliii. 27. 

46 Verse 9. 48 Luke x. 6, 



466 Of the Order of the 

Sect. IL Sect. II. Of the Svpplications and Prayers. 

1. When the Minister is come into the sick Man's 
Pfal. cxliii. presence, he is to begin the Supplications. By the first 
merh^ Book of King Edward, these were introduced with the 
hundred and forty-third Psalm ; which,upon whatever oc- 
casion it was composed, is very proper and applicable 
to any state of affliction. But at the next review this 
Psalm was left out, and the ofhce has ever since begun 
The sen- ^^'^^ ^^^ sentence out of the Litany, For the Litany 
tence out being designed for the averting of Evil, and the proper 
of the Lit- office for a state of affliction, would have been very prop- 
^"y* er to be used here entirely, but that it is supposed the 

sick Man cannot attend so long. For which reason 
there is only one sentence taken out of the whole, to 
deprecate both our own^ and the Iniquities of our fore' 
fathers, which so long as God remembers, his holiness 
and justice will oblige him to punish us more and more. 
And because all of us equally deserve to be afflicted, as 
well as the person for whom we are going to pray ; there- 
fore all that are present to join to say both for them- 
selves and him, Spare us, good Lord. 
Lord have II. And as all that came to Jesus for help, used to cry, 
roercy Lord have Mercy upon ■us'*^ ; so do we here, on the like 
"pon us, occasion, supplicate and beseech the whole Trinity for 
Mercy, in that ancient form of which we have already 
spoken***. 
The Lords j|j^ When we have thus prayed against evil, wepro- 
^*^ * ceed to petition for those good things which the sick 
Man's condition makes him stand in need of. And that 
our prayers may be the more prevailing, they are intro- 
duced as usual with the Prayer of our Lord, which is 
rnore particularly proper here, as being very suitable 
to a state of trouble. 
The Versi- jy, Xhis is followed by some short Responses, in which 
Responses. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ present are to join with the Priest in behalf 
of the Sick, who will doubtless be refreshed by the 
charity and devotion of so many Supplicants, with unit- 
ed requests, petitioning the Throne of Grace for him*". 



*The places of the Psalms, whence they are taken, have 
already been showed upon the office of Matrimon}?" . jjgpp 

4y Malt. ix. 27. xv. 22. xvii, 50 Page 160. 
J 5. XX. 30,31. 61 Page 459. 



Visitation of the Sick. 467 

V. After this the Minister proceeds to collect the re- Chap. XI. 
'quests of the people into a short Prayer ; wherein he "" 

begs, that whilst the sickness remains, it may be made ^oUec?; 
€asy to bear, by the comforts of divine grace continual- 
ly bestowed upon the person that suffers. T^e sec- 

VJ. And then, in another prayer, he proceeds farther, ond Col- 
to beg that the correction may be sanctified so, that, lect. 
whether it end in life or death, it may turn to his ad- 
vantage. 

§. 2. This last prayer was shorter before the last re- How thia 
view; how it ran then may be seen in the margin*, prayer was 
where the instances borrowed from the Roman offices, ^°'^^^ 
being examples of miraculous cures which are not now 
to be expected, were prudently left out, and supplied 
with some other more suitable petitions; which must be 
allowed to be a good improvement of the form. 

Sect. III. Of the Exhortation, 

It is a part of a Minister's office to exhort, as well as '^^^ ^^^^ 
to pray for their people, and that not only in time of ^^^ ' 
health, but also in sickness*^ : for then they stand in 
most need of directions, and are then most likely to fol- 
low wholesome advice. The church therefore, being 
unwilling to lose so likely an opportunity of doing good, 
when the sufferings of the patient make him tender and 
tractable, hath drawn up a proper and pious Exhorta- 



is only one added for the preservation of the Sick from the 
malice of the Devil, which is taken from Psalm Ixxxix. 23, 
according to the old Latin translation. 



* After the words — Grieved with Sickness, it ran thus : 
Visit him, O Lord, as thou didst visit Peter^s wife's mother, 
and the captain's servant. [And as thou preservedst Tobie and 
Sarah by thy angel from danger ;] so visit and restore unto 
this sick person his former health, {if it be thy will,) or else give 
him grace so to take thy Visitation, that after this painful life 
ended, he may dwell with thee in life everlasting. Amen. But 
note, the clause within the crotchets [ ] concerning Tobie 
and Sarah, was only in the first book of King Edward, which 
also omitted the words Visit and, and instead of Visitation 
read Correction. 

52 1 Thess. v. 14. S Tim. iv. 2, 



468 Of the Order of the 

Chap^ tion, to improve that happy temper for his souPs salva- 
tion. The form here prescribed exactly agrees with 
the heads of Exhortation, which the Priest was ordered 
to use to the Sick by an ancient council above eieht 
hundred years ago^^ It consists first oi Ins true Horn, con- 
cerning the author of afflictions, the ends for which they 
are sent, the manner how we are to bear them, and the 
benefits of improving them. And here, if the person he 
very sick, the Oiirate may end his Exhortation. 
The sec- But if his distemper will allow him to proceed, the 
ood pari. Minister is to admonish and stir him up to the practice 
of those virtues which are now especially needful : such 
as, in the first place, is Patience; since, till his mind is 
made calm, it is in vain to press him either to faith or 
repentance. For which reason this second part of the 
Exhortation we are speaking of endeavours to cheer up 
the Spirits of the Sick, by proper arguments, precepts, 
and examples. r r ? 

The Exa- And now, being in hopes that his mind is composed, 
^fThl'sick ^^^,^»^'st^r proceeds to give him such advice as is prop- 
er for one that is preparing for Death. And since at 
his Baptism he made a solemn vow to God, which he 
promised to keep all the days of his life; it is fit he 
should examine, now the end of his life may probably 
draw near, how he has performed and discharged that 
promise. And because one part of his vow was, to 6e» 
heve all the Articles of the Christian Faith, therefore the 
Priest particularly inquires into the sick man's belief, 
t or to doubt of, or deny any of these articles, is declar- 
ed to be a dangerous and damnable state. It is to 
forsake the faith into which he was baptized : and what 
else is this but to cut himself off from all the privileges 
and advantages to which his baptism entitled him ? For 
which reason it is necessary that our brother should 
show that he has kept this faith entire, that so we may 
be satisfied that he dies a sound member of the Catholic 
church, out of which no salvation can ordinarily be ob- 
tained. 

SscT. ly. Of the Examination and Exhortation according 
to the direction in the Rubric, 
The dis- 

Ex'^^i^ina- 1 ^^^ former Exhortation agrees to all sick persons in 
tio-; of general, and is therefore prescribed in a set form. But 

the sick 

person. ^^ Concil. Nannetens. c. 4. apud Binium, torn. iii. par. 2. pag, 131 = 



Visitation of the Sick, 469 

since the cases and tempers of men in Sickness are very Sect. IV. 

^different, the church leaves it to the discretion of the ^ 

Minister who visits, to assist and direct them in other 
matters, as he sees the particular case requires. She 
only prescribes the heads of Examination, and leaves 
the management and expression to the prudence of the 
Minister, since no form could possibly be contrived, that 
should suit all the variety of circumstances that happen. 

§. 1. The first direction given (which was added at j^ ^^ ^^ 
the last review) is, that the Minister shall examine whether his Re- 
he repent him truly of his sins. For it is very certain that pentance. 
all have sinned*"*, and consequently that all have need 
of repentance : and therefore before the Minister can 
give the sick man comfort upon any good grounds, it is 
fit that he should be satisfied of the truth of his Repent- 
ance. 

§. 2. In the next place he is to examine. Whether he be 2. As to 
in Charity with all the world, exhorting him to forgive^from hisCharity. 
the bottom of his heart, all persons that have offended him. 
For there is not any duty more enforced in the Gospel, 
than that of brotherly reconciliation, or forgiving of in- 
juries, which even in the prayer that our Lord has 
taught us is made the condition of God's forgiving us. 
The example therefore of our Lord and his first martyr 
St. Stephen, who prayed for their murderers at the very 
instant of their death, should always be considered upon 
these occasions. Father, forgive them^for they know not 
what they do^^ ; and, Lord^ lay not this sin to their charge^^, 
which were their dying words, should always be ours. 
For sure it is high time for men to forget their resent- 
ments against their neighbours, when they are just going 
to answer for their own misdoings : especially when we 
are taught so plainly by our Saviour, that unless we 
have compassion on our fellow-servants, our Lord will 
exact from us all that we owe to him, and will deliver 
us over to the tormentors till we shall have paid what 
is due". 

But besides the sick person's forgiving those that have 
oflfended him, if he has offended any other, he must ask them 
forgiveness ; and where he hath done injury or wrong to any 
man, he must also make amends to the uttermost ofhispow' 
er. For he who refuses to do this is not a penitent for 
the injury he has done, but would certainly do more, if 

54 Rom. iii. 23. 56 Acts. -vii. 60. 

55 Luke xxiii. 34. 37 Matt, xviii. 23, &c. 



470 Of the Order for the 

Chap. XI. he had time and opportunity ; and therefore he can ex* 
"" pect nothing but condemnation from that Judge, who 

fenows the tendency and temper of his mind. Our Lord, 
"we know, did not receive Zaccheus into the number of 
Jhis followers or disciples, till he had made profession of 
his willingness to restore*^ : who then can expect to be 
received into his kingdom, that refuses so necessary a 
part of justice ? Since therefore the sick person may 
now, for what he knows, be going to appear before the 
Judge of all the world, from whom he that doth wrong 
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, without re- 
ipect ofpersons^^ ; how much doth it concern him to a- 
gree with his adversary while he is yet in the way with him, 
lest afterwards the adversary deliver him to the judge, and 
the judge deliver him to the officer, and so he he cast into 
prison, from whence he shall by no means come out till he 
has paid the uttermost far thing^^ ! So necessary is it even 
for those who but susppct themselves of any wrongful 
deed, to judge and examine themselves with all possible 
strictness, and by public acknowledgments and tender 
of satisfaction to declare their unfeigned and hearty re- 
pentance. 
H€ must §. 3. After the exercise of these two branches of Cha- 
be exhort- ^{[y^ should follow the third, viz, that of giving to the 
tie hU*^ " Poor : but before the sick man be exhorted to this, it is 
worJdiy necessary that he should know what is his own to give, 
affairs. Por which reason, if he has not before disposed of his 
Goods, he is then to be admonished to make his Will, and to 
declare his Debts, what he oweth and what is owing unto him^ 
for the better discharging of his conscience, and the quietness 
of his Executors. And though the making of a Will be 
a secular matter, which does not relate to those spiritual, 
concerns which the Minister comes to the sick man a- 
bout; yet since the affairs of intestates are generally left 
in so confused a manner, that strifes and contests are of- 
ten the result, it is very prudently enjoined by our 
church, that the Minister should remind them of settling 
their affairs. Men indeed should often be put in remem- 
brance, to take order for the settling of their temporal estates 
whilst they are in health : for no man is sure but that he 
may be taken off suddenly, without having time to per- 
form it ; or though he may be seized with a lingering 
disease, 3'et it may be such a one as may incapacitate 
him from doing it. Or supposing the best, that he may 

58 Luke xix. 8. 60 Matt. v. 25, 26. 



Visitation of the Sicft. 47 f 

have timely notice or warning of his death, and his un- Sect. IV* 
derstanding hold good and perfect to the last ; yet sure " " 
it must be a disturbance to a dying man, to have those 
moments taken up in ordering and disposing of his world- 
ly affairs, which ought to be employed in preparing him 
for eternity. However, if our carelessness has deferr- 
ed it till then, it must by no means be omitted now. We 
must not leave our friends and relations involved in end- 
less suits and contentions ; none of our family must be 
left unprovided for, through our neglect of assigning 
their portion ; nor must our creditors be defrauded of 
their just demands, for want of our clearing or declaring, 
our debts. If in any of these cases our last act be un- 
just, we leave a blot upon our name in this world, and 
can expect nothing but a sad doom in the next. ^,y 

For this reason the church makes it a part of the Mi- (^"^ t^» 
nister's care. And by an ancient constitution made in ^^^^ ^e- 
the year 1236, people were forbid to make their Wills fore the 
without the presence of the Parish-Priest, as they desir- Minister 
ed that their Wills might be fulfilled^ However, if the p'^ers.) 
Minister think this a matter of too secular a nature to be ^ 
mingled with his discourses concerning his spiritual con- 
cerns, he is allowed to manage and dispatch this first be- 
fore he begins the holy office. For that is the intent of 
the following rubric, which allows, that the words before 
rehearsed may be said before the Minister begin his prayer^ 
as he shall see cause*. Which, if compared with King 



* In the American Office, this rubrick runs thus: The Exhorta- 
tion before rehearsed may be said before the Minister begin his prayer , 
as he shall see cause. The present writer has always understood the 
rubrick thus altered, as referring to the exhortation, ^'dearly beloved, 
know this,*' &c. But the positive manner in which Wheat! j has at- 
tributed a different sense to the English rubric, induced him to con- 
sult the veneraWe Senior Bishop of the American Church, as to the 
motive of the convention of 1789, in making this alteration. The fol- 
lowing opinion has been given by the Bishop, "although," he observes 
^' with diffidence ;" because *' it would be rash to pronounce positive- 
ly as to the motives which influenced so numerous a body of men, in 
an act pierformed so many years ago.'' 

" It seems to me that for greater explicitness, and to prevent the 
understanding of ' these words before rehearsed,' of the creed only ; 
which mig-ht the easier happen, on account of the word * rehearse,' 
immediately before the creed ; there were substituted, ' the exhorta- 
tion before rehearsed,' under the persuasion, that this had been the 
meaning of the compiler. Notwithstanding the high authority of 
Wheatly, I do not perceive, how the idea of rehearsal can apply to 
the moving of the patient to make his will, &c. there being no pre- 
scribed words to that effect.'* Am. Ei>. 

>51 See Mr. Johnson's Eecl»slastical Laws, A. D, 1236. 29. 



472 Of the Order for the 

Chap. XI. Edward's Common Prajer-Books, plainly refers to th6 

'^"'^ man's disposal of his goods ; against which part of the 

direction the contents of this rubric are printed in the 
margin*. 
And to b ^, 4^ The man's affairs being now settled, and his cir- 
fhe^P^or^ cumstances known, the Minister, in the next place, is not 
to omit earnestly to move him^ \fhe be of ability, to be libe- 
ral to the poor » By the old canon law every one was o- 
bliged to leave such a proportion of his goods or estate 
to charitable uses, as he bequeathed to each of his chil- 
dren^^ This moiety, which belongeth to the church, 
was laid up by the Bishop for the maintenance of the 
Clergy, the repair of the fabric, and the like. But we 
are only enjoined to put the Rich in mind of the Poor, 
that out of the abundance which they are going to leave, 
they should bestow some liberal largess on them. And 
indeed, of all our treasures, that alone which we thus 
dispose of is laid up in store for ourselves. Our good 
works are our only moveables that shall follow us to 
the grave : and therefore there is no time more seasona- 
ble for them than Sickness, when we are preparing to 
be gone. 
The sick §. 5. Besides the Examination and Exhortation above^ 
"^V° I • mentioned, the sick person is farther to be moved to make 
sins." a special Confession of his Sins, if he feel his Conscience 
troubled zvith any weighty matters ;t i. e. I suppose, if he 



* This may he done before the Minister begin his prayers^ 
as he shall see cause. 

— _>_ 4 

tThe whole of this rubric, together with the form of absolution for 
sick persons is omitted in the American Prayer Book, Notwithstand- 
ing" what is said by Wheatly and other writers, in favour ofeiplana- 
tioD of this absolution, the permission to use the absolute form and ab- 
solve THKE, &c. has bieen so liable to misconstruction, that the intire 
omission of it may be considered as an improvement. Abp. Seeker re- 
marks, that it "is not appointed ever to be used but when the sick have 
made by their own choice, a special confession of some weighty matter, 
troubling their consciences, humbly and heartilv desiring that it may 
be used for their consolation," And, he adds, "" as this is but stl- 
dom requested, and consequently the absolution seldom pronounced ot^er 
any one ; so, whenever it is, it may and ought to be accompanied with 
such explanations, as will prevent any wrong construction." The 
practice of using it then, is not common m the Church of England : 
and many eminent English divines have ceased to apologise for, orde- 

62 Decret. Par. 2. Cau«. 13. Qu. 2. 



Visitation of the Sick, 473 

has committed any sin for which the censure of the Sect^.^ 
church ought to be inflicted, or else if he is perplexed 
concerning the nature, or some nice circumstances of 
his crime. It was upon the former of these cases, that 
private Confession seems at first to have been appoint- 
ed ; for in the early ages of the church, when the pub- 
lic humiliation of scandalous offenders was observed to 
be attended with some great advantages, many persons 
of zeal would not only rank themselves in the class of 
public penitents for sins done in secret, but would even 
solemnly confess before the congregation the particular 
crime, for which they desired to make satisfaction, by 
submitting to penance. Now though it was fit that what 
had been openly committed in the face of the world 
should be openly retracted, that so the scandal might be 
removed ; yet it might often happen, that in the case of 
secret sins, it would be better that the particulars should 
be kept concealed. For this reason a Penitentiary^ or 
Confessor^ was early appointed in every diocese, to whom 
persons in doubt should resort, and consult with him, 
what on the one hand might be fit for publication, and 
what on the other would be better kept secret. So that The state 
though public pennance was still generally assigned for r^g^'^""; 
grievous offences that were privately committed ; yettheprmi- 
ihe persons that confessed did not always make a pub- tive 
lie declaration of the fact, for which they appeared in church, 
the rank of penitents. The congregation to be sure 
knew that something had been committed, which de- 
served that correction : but what the thing was, they 
were no otherwise acquainted with, than as the Peniten- 



fend it. Dean Tucker remarks, " that the form of absolution in our 
(the English) order for the visitation of the sick, is justly linble to 
censure -, because it pretends to such a knowledgt- of the huriian heart 
a? cannot belong tu any mortal man. without an i^xprnss revelation 
from heaven "—Sum. on Nat. and Revealed Religion, p. 91. 

Sir James Storehouse, after giving the abov«- quotation from Dean 
Tu' ker, adds the following observations. " Mr. Comber m hi.? labo- 
rious writings on the Book of Common Prayer, endeavours to ju<»tify 
this passage : and he succeeds according to the manner of thqse who 
attempt impossibility. Mr. Wheatly in his illustration of our Liturgy, 
offers some apologies for this form of absolution. The late Df. Steb- 
bing, in his excellent little tract against popery, fciirly gives it up as 
iridL-feniibie. I do the same, an<j[ es<eem it to be among the number 
ol those red blemishes, spots, and imperfections in our chnwih, which 
ought to be removed, when a proper opportunity shall present." Ev- 
«ry iVIan'o Assistant, and the S.ck Man's Friend,— Oxf. 1815, p. 291. 

Am. E». 
MMm 



474 Of the Order of Ihe 

Qhap; XL tiary should advise or forbid the discovery. This is 
' the best conjecture we are able to make concerning the 

rise of the Penitentiary's office; though we have some 
footsteps of private and secret confessions before we 
read of any stated confessor. For Origen, who lived at 
the beginning of the third century, speaks of private con- 
fessions as the received usage in his time, and only ad- 
vises the choice of a person that was fit to be trusted®^. 
And St. Cyprian, that lived much about the same time^ 
commends the zeal of those that laid open even their 
thoughts and intentions of offering sacrifice to idols 
(though they had not yet proceeded to the fact) with 
grief and sincerity before the Priest^^* And much the 
same advice is given by others, who mention private con- 
fession as a general and well known practice, and only 
caution the penitents to choose such persons to consult 
with, as will be careful and tender of their reputation and 
safet}/^'^ And it was an imprudent direction of the peni- 
tentiaries at Constantinople, for the public confession of 
a sin which had been better concealed, that caused Nec- 
tarius, who was then Bishop of that city, to abolish the 
office, and to strike the name of Penitentiary out of the 
ecclesiastical rolK'^ It appears indeed from St. Chrysos- 
tom^^, that the public discipline of the church was the 
same after this accident as it was before : onl_y the con- 
fession of secret sins, which gave no scandal, was left 
from that time to the discretion and conscience of those 
who had committed them ; who should judge for them- 
selves, whether they should resort to, or abstain from, 
the holy C^mmunionb Not but that they were at liber- 
ty, after the abolishing this office, as much as they were 
before, to use the advice of a ghostly counsellor, if they 
found themselves in want of it ; but then there was no 
peculiar officer, whose distinct business it should be to 
receive such applications ; but every one was left to 
choose a confessor for himself, in whom he might safe- 
ly confide^^ And how far even this came to be after- 

63 Origen. in Psal.xxxvii. Horn. 66 Socrat. Hist. Eccl. 1. 5, c. 
2 , ly. et So2. 1. 7. c. 17* 

64 Cypr. de Lnp?. 67 In Ep. ad Innocent, et in 

65 Greg. Nyssen. confra Eun- Ep. nd Hebrae. Horn. 4. et in 2 
om. Oral. 11. lorn. li. pag. 705. de Cor. Honi. 4. et 18. et in Ephes. 
Focnit. torn. u. pag. 175, 176. Pau- Hotu. 3. 

)in. in Vit. Anibros. Bafil, Regulai 68 >ce all these particnlars more 

33reviores, pag. (til. lnterrog.220. largely treated of in Dr. Mar- 

tom. ii. Luci.iii. in Paraeu. sive jihaji*? Penitential Discipline,cbaP' 

Libell. aa PfRnif. Hieroh. in Matt. 2. part 1. $. 1. 
xvi*, 



^ 



Visitaiion of the Sick, 475 

wards abused, is too well known to need any proof: but Sect. IV. 
no argunaent sure can be drawn, that because a practice '^ 

has been abused, it should therefore cease to be used. 
The abuses of it should be reformed, but not the prac- 
tice discontinued. 

And therefore the church of England at the Reforma- jj^^^ ^^^^ 
tion, in the particular now before us, freed it from all the enjoined 
encroachments with which the church of Rome had em- ^y ^^e 
barrassed it, and reduced confession to its primitive plan. £^"',^1'^^ 
She neither calls it a Sacrament, nor requires it to be us- - 
ed as universally necessary ; but because it is requisite 
that no Man should come to the holy communion, but loith 
a full trust in God's mercy ^ and with a quiet conscience ; 
she therefore advises, that if there be any who is not able 
to quiet his own conscience^ but requireth farther comfort or 
counsel, he should come to his own^ or some other discreet 
and learned Minister ofGud\s word and open his grief thai, 
hy the ministry of Gods holy word, he may receive the ben* 
ejit of Absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice, 
to the quietijig of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple 
and doubtfulness^^. Here we see there is nothing arbit- 
arily prescribed, but every one is left to his own discre- 
tion ; all that was absolutely enjoined, was only a mu- 
tual forbearance and peace ; for the security of which a 
clause was added in the first book of King Edward, re- 
quiring such as shall be satisfied with a general confession, 
not to be offended with them that do use, to their farther sat- 
isfying, the auricular and secret Confession to the Priest : 
nor those also which think needful and convenient, for iht 
quietness of their own consciences, particularly to open their 
sins to the Priest, to be offended with them that are satisfied 
with their humble Confessions to God, and the general Con- 
fession to the Church. But in all things to follow and keep 
the rule of Charity, and every man to be satisfied with his 
own conscience, not judging other men^s minds or conscien- 
ces ; whereas he hath no warrant ofGod^s word to the same. 
What could have been added more judiciously than thi.s, 
to temper, on the one hand, the rigours of those w ho 
were oo apt at that time to insist upon Confession as ul- 
ways absolutely necessary to salvation ; and to preveiii, 
on the other hand, a carelessness in those who, beiiig 
prejudiced against the abuse, were apt indiscriminately 
to reject the thing, as at no time needful or useful to a 
penitent ? So that we may still, I presume, wish, very 

6& See the Conplusion of tlie first Exhortation (o the holy CoinniUiji-jM. 



476 Of the Order of the 

Chap. XI. consistently with the determination of our church, that 
our people would apply themselves, oftener than they 
do, to their spiritual pkysicians, even in the time of their 
health ; since it is much to be feared, they are wounded 
oftener than they complain, and yet, through aversion 
to disclosing their sore, suffer it to gangrene, for want of 
their help who should work the cure. 

J*^^ ^^"j" But present ease is not the only benefit the penitent 

fits and ad- ^ ^ . i • c «> "^ • i i -n i ■ i 

vantages ^^^y e>^pect trom his confessor s aid : he will be better 

of it. assisted in the regulation of his life ; and when his last 

conflict shall make its approach, the holy man, being no 
stranger to the state of his soul, will be better prepared 
to guide and conduct it through all difficulties that may 
oppose. However, if we have neglected to communi- 
cate our doubts and scruples in our health, we have more 
need of following the Apostles advice when we are sick, 
viz. to call for the Elders of the churchy and to confess our 
faults^ in order to engage ihe'iv fervent prayers"^^. For this 
reason, though our church leaves it in a manner to ev- 
ery ORe*s discretion, in the time of health, whether they 
will be satisfied with a general Confession to God and the 
Church ; yet when they are sick, she thinks it proper 
that they be moved to make a special Confession of their 
sins to the Priest^ if they feel their consciences troubled with 
any weighty matter. For how will he be able to satisfy 
their doubts, if he be not let into the particulars of theii' 
case ? Or with what assurance can he absolve them, or 
admit them to the peace and communion of the church, 
before he is apprised how far they have deserved its 
censure and bonds ? If then they are desirous of the fol- 
lowing consolations which the church has provided for 
their quiet and ease, it is fit they should first declare and 
make kn-jwn what burden it is, from which they want to 
be freed. How far the church can assist or relieve them, 
or what consolations they are which she administers, the 
Absolution here prescribed will lead us to consider; 
which, with the Collect that follows, shall make the sub- 
ject of the next section. 

Sect. V. Of the Absolution and the Collect following. 

The form AfTER the sick person has made a special confession 
ofiheAb- (jffjissins, as has been mentioned above, the Priest is 

solution. ' 

70 James v. 14, 16. 



Visitation of the Sick, 47^? 

to absolve him, if he humbly and heartily desire it, after S^^** ^* 
this sort : 

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his church 
to absolve all sinners, who truly repent and believe in him, 
of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences : and by his 
auitiirity committed to me, 1 absolve thee from all thy sins, 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. Amen, 

Now whether the church designs, by this form, that jS^^™^^_°' 
the Priest shall directly convey God's pardon to the con- gpgctThe 
science of the sinner, for his sins and offences committed censures 
against him ; or whether that he shall only remit the cen- °{" *^**. 
sures of the church, and continue him in the privilige of *^ ""^^ * 
church-communion, which he may be supposed to have 
forfeited by the sins he has confessed, is thought by some 
not to be clearly and determinately expressed. But if we 
look forward to the Collect immediately after to be used, 
it looks as if the church did only intend the remission of 
ecclesiastical censures and bonds. For in that prayer the 
penitent is said still most earnestly to desire pardon and for' 
giveness : which surely there would be no occasion to do, 
if he had been actually pardoned and forgiven by God, 
by virtue of the Absolution pronounced before. Again, 
the Priest offers a special request, that God would />reser^e 
and continue him in the unity of the Church ; which seems 
\o suppose, that the foregoing Absolution had been pro- 
nounced in order to restore him to its peace. And there- 
fore since the form will bear this 'sense, without straining 
or putting any force upon the words, I hope it will be 
no offence to interpret them so, as is most consistent with 
the original commission given by our Lord, and the ex- 
ercise of it in the purest ages of the Church. 

§. 2. Now it is plain that the authority first promised What 
to St. Peter^\ and afterwards in common to all the Apo- power giv- 
stles^^ was a power of admitting to, or excluding from, chur^ch by 
church-communion : for it is expressed by the Keys ofom Sav- 
the Kingdom of Heaven. Now the Kingdom of Heaven be- iom. 
ing, in the scriptural sense, the Church of Christ, of 
which heaven is the metropolis or principal part ; and 
the Keys (which are a token or ensign of power) being 
also used in Scripture to denote the conferring of au- 
thority to some chief officer in a family, to take in and 
exclude from it whom he should judge convenient^^ ; it 

71 Matt. xvi. 19. 73 ha. xxii. 22. Rer.iii. 7. and 

72 Matt, xvlii. 18. ch. xx. 1, 2, S. 



478 Of the Order for the 

Chap. XI. must follow, that by the Keys of the Kingdom of HeaveUf 
must be meant a power of admitting into, and shutting 
out of, the Christian Church. Accordingly the exercise 
of this power is called binding and loosing, which were 
terms used by the Jews, to signify the same things with 
what we now express by excommunicating and ahsohing'K 
And our Saviour gives in charge, that whosoever is thus 
bound should be looked upon by his disciples as a heath- 
en Man and a Publican; which seems naturally to im- 
port, that from a state of communion with the Christian 
Church, he should be reduced into the state of heathens, 
and such other profligate men, who were not admitted 
into their places of worship, nor so much as received 
into common conversation^^ 

St. John indeed tells us, that our Saviour, after his 
resurrection, and when he seemed to be giving his final 
commission, endued his Apostles with a power express- 
ed by the terms of remitting and retaining sins''\ Bu* 
now it is the opinion of Dr. Hammond^% and from him 
of a late author of not inferior judgment^^ that this pass- 
age has much the same signification with the former, and 
that the terms in St. John, of retaining and remitting^ are 
equivalent to those in St. Matthew, of binding and loos^ 
ing. They only observe, that retaining is more emphat- 
ical than binding, and that it signifies properly to keep 
hound, and that the word remit refers to sin as a debt, 
whereas the word loose refers it to a bond or chain. And 
if this be the sense of *the words in St. John, then it is 
plain that this commission, as well as the former in St. 
Matthew, confers only a power of excommunicating and 
absolving; and consequently that no authority can be 
urged from hence for the applying of God's pardon to 
the conscience of a sinner, or for absolving him any 
otherwise than from the censures of the Church. 

And indeed that these words give no power to us, in 
the present state of the Church, to forgive or remit sins 
in the name of God, so as immediately to restore the per- 
son absolved to his favor and grace, I humbly presume 
i.0 join my opinion with theirs. But yet, with due submis- 

74 Vide. Selden. de Sjned. 78 Dr. Marshall's Penitential 
veter, Ebraeor. I. 1 c, 7 et Morin. Discipline of the prirtitive Church, 
de Adu)inistrat. Poenitent. 1. 4. c pages 12, 13. See also Bishjp 
^. Potter's Discourse of Church-Gov- 

75 Matt. ix. 11. Acts xi. 3. and ernment, ch. 5. page 345, &c. 
chap. xxi. 28. Gal. ii. 12. where the Bishop gives the same 

76 John XX. 23. interpretation of this Text with 
tl See his Notes apon the text. Dr. Hammond. 



Visitation of the Sick. 479 

oion, I cannot forbear thinking, that such a power was Se«t v. 

intended to be given b)' them to the Apostles. For ob- 

serve, that wherever else in the New Testament we meet 
with the word 'A'pii}u,i^ (which we render remit in the 
text,) applied to sins, as it is here, it is constantly used 
to express the remission and forgiveness of them, or the 
entire putting them away ; and therefore the use of the 
same terms, in the text I am speaking of, inclines me to 
interpret the commission there given, of a power to re- 
mit sins, even in relation to God ; insomuch that those 
sins which the Apostles should declare forgiven by vir- 
tue of this commission, should be actually forgiven by 
God himself, so as to be imputed no more. Not that I 
believe this power extended to the remitting all sins in- 
discriminately, and in whomsoever they pleased : but 
only that when some temporal calamity or disease had 
been inflicted upon a man as a punishment for his sins, 
the Apostles, if inwardly moved by the Spirit, had pow- 
er to declare that his sins were forgiven, and as a testi- 
mony thereof to remove his calamity. That which 
inclines me to put this sense upon these words is my ob- 
serving, that when our Saviour vouchsafed to heal the 
paralytic, he first pronounced that his sins were forgiven 
hinC^ : and that when St. James also is speaking of a sick 
man's being raised, by the Prcyer ofFmth, from his bod- 
ily disease, he adds, that if he had committed any sins^ 
(which were the cause of it,) they also should be forgiven 
him^°. Now from hence I would infer, that the power 
of healing diseases, and the power of remitting sins, 
were generally consequent one of the other. And there- 
fore since it is evident that the Apostles and others, in 
the first ages of the Church, could heal diseases, it seems 
DOt unlikely that they did it by virtue of a power that 
was invested in them of forgiving sins. And consequent- 
Jy, if they had a power of forgiving sins, that power must 
be conferred upon them by this commission in St. John, 
where our Saviour sends them with the same plentitude 
of power with which he himself was sent of the Father^ 
and explains that power by the express and open terms 
of remitting and retaining sins. And if this be the sense 
of this text in St. John, then it is only to be interpretted 
of an extraordinary power which accompanied the in- 
flicting, or continuing, or removing diseases, (as the oc- 
casion required,) which our Saviour thought fit, for the 

79 ^att. ix. :a, Ix. SO Jam« v. 14, 15. 



4«0 



Of the Order for the 



The inter- 
nal effects 
of Excom- 
munica- 
tion and 
Absolu- 
tion. 



Chap. XI. readier progress of the Gospel, to entrust with the Apos- 
"^ ties and first Preachers of Christianity. 

§. 3. However, that these words were never under- 
stood by the primitive Christians to imply a statiding 
authority in the Ministers of the Gospel, to pardon or 
forgive sins immediately and directly in relation to God, 
and as to which the censure of the Church had been in 
no wise concerned,! think may fairly be urged from there 
being no mention made, in any of the ancient fathers, 
that any such authority was ever pretended to by any 
Church whatever,for a great many cent ries aflerChrist. 
And therefore, if they relate to any standmg authority, 
which was designed to continue through all ages of the 
Church, they must necessarily be interpreted in the a- 
bove-mentioned sense ; which makes them equivalent to 
the texts in St. Matthew, which, I have already showed, 
have an evident relation to excommunicating and absolv- 
ing, or to the inflicting and removing church-censures. 
Not that the favour or displeasure of God is wholly un- 
concerned in these acts of the Church : for the contrary 
of this is evidently declared by our Lord himself ; What- 
soever, saith he, ye shall hind on Earthy shall be bound in 
Heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth, shall be 
loosed in Heaven : which must at least imply, that what- 
ever sentence shall be duly passed by the governors of 
the Church, shall be ratified by him whom they repre- 
sent ; insomuch that whosoever is, by virtue of such sen- 
tence, cut off from the Church, not only loses the benefit 
of church-communion,(which is ordinarily the necessary 
means of salvation,) but will also, if he dies in a state of 
impenitence, be looked upon by God to have forfeited all 
the privileges of his baptism, and consequently to be as 
much without the pale of the Church, as if he had never 
been admitted into it. Nay farther, though even an inno- 
cent man should, through wrong information, or some 
other mischance, be unjustly excommunicated, he must, 
with due respect and submission to the authority, plead 
his innocence, and use all proper means that offer, to 
brijig his judges to a sense of their mistake. And if, after 
all, his sentence is, for want of opportunities to clear 
himself, ratified and confirmed, he is obliged to acqui- 
esce in it: for should he, upon such occasion, behave 
himself undutifully to the Ministers of Christ, he will un- 
doubtedly incur the san; ^ sentence in heaven, which the 
courts on earth would pass on those who should offer to 



Visitation of the Sick. 481 

abuse and revile their judges ; i, e, he will be condemn- Sect. V. 
ed for his disobedience to them, let him be ever so inno- "^ ^^ 
cent as to the crime laid to his charge. So ihat though 
a nian maj' have committed no real offence against God, 
.yet if he falls under the censure of the Church, it will 
be imputed to him as a sin even by God himself, if he 
does not obtain, or hy all due humiliation endeavour to 
obtain, her absolution and forgiveness. And for this 
i-eason the absolution of the Church ought always to be 
sued for with prayers and tears, whenever we have done 
any thing that may give her offence. And therefore all 
I aim at is only to show, that it does not appear from 
this text in St. John, nor from any of the others that have 
been spoken to above, that any Absolution pronounced 
hy the Church can cleanse or do away our inward guilt, 
or remit the eternal penalties of sin, which are declared 
to be due to it by the sentence of God, any farther than 
by the prayers which are appointed to accompany it, 
and by the use of those ordinances to which it restores 
us, it may be a means, in the end, of obtaining our par- 
don from God himself, and the forgiveness of our sin as 
it relates to him, 

§. 4. And this, upon enquiry, we shall find to be all The power; 
that the Church laid claim to for divers ages after our ^j^^^ in 
Saviour. For if we look into her practice for the first what sense 
four centuries, we shall always find Absolution co-rela- exercised 
tive to public discipline. The peace of the Chnrch was ^l^^^ P"' 
never ordinarily given but to such as were under its cen- churclu 
sures before ; nor was any loosed, or had his sins remit- 
ed, but who had before been bound, ot had his sins re- 
tained. It is true, at such times, prayers were always 
used, for the obtaining to the penitent the forgiveness of 
God, and for restoring him again to his favour and grace, . 
And indeed it does not appear, that in those primitive 
ages there was any other ceremony used, at the instant 
of re-admitting a penitent to the peace of the Church, 
than intercessions and prayers offered to God on his be- 
half, together with the imposition of the Bishop^s hands ; 
which, by the way too, were all along applied to him, 
throughout the whole Course of his penitential separa- 
tion: so that this sin was gradually expiated by the dep- 
recations of the Minister, during the whole time of his 
being under the state of penance ; and was then judg- 
ed to be fully expiated, when the term of his sentence was 
quite expired, and he had for the last time received the 
N Nn 



'iii bflhe Order for the 

Cihap. XI. imposition of hands, upon which he was imnfiediately pe- 
"" instated in a!l the privileges of full cbmmunion®^ In 

some time after the optative form Vv'as gradually introdu- 
ced, and mixed with the precatory, mu6h as it is in the 
form of Absolution used by our own Chiirch in the office 
of Communion^^ But as to the indicative form, it does 
riot appear to have been generally introduced till about 
(he middle of the twelfth century ; and then it vvnsmade 
use of only to reconcile the penitent to the Church, whilst 
the deprecatory was what was supposed to procure his 
pardon from God^^, Within a century afterwards, in- 
deed, it was a ruled case in the Church, that such as re- 
ceived the confession of penitents should, by an indica-* 
,^ tive form, absolve them from their sins^^: and the Priests 

^ were supposed to have a power invested in them, to re- 

lease a sinner from the wrath of God, purely by pro- 
nouncing this form over him. 

But 1 have already observed, that as to the pardon of 
Cod, <ind applying'-it directly to the sinner's conscience, 
the power of the Priest is only ministerial ; and therefore 
one would think that, in the exercise of that power, the 
form should 'be rather precatory than peremptory. But 
in restoring a man to the peace of the Church, (which he 
may appear by his confession to have forfeited, though 
sentence was never denounced against him^) there the 
form may decently enough be absolute and indicative ; 
for the Minister in this case has di judicial authority, and 
so is at liberty to use fuller terms. 
"What ill- §. 5. And that the form of Absolution, of which we 
fended by ^^q fjQ^y discoursing, is only designed to remit to the pe- 
eat form" "^^^"^ ^^^ censures that might be due from the Church to 
bis sins, may not only be inferred from the expressions 
I have already taken notice of in the Collect that is ap- 
pointed to be used immediately after ii^*, TduI maj' also 
farther be argued from the end and design for which that 
Collect was originally composed. For in the Penitential 
of Ecbert, who was Archbishop of York in the middle 
of the eighth century, the reader may find this very 
prayer, with a very little variation, to have been one of 

81 See Dr. Marfehall'sfPeniten- 84 See the Constitution of 0th- 
fial Discipline, page 84, &c. obon, A. D. 1268. in Bishop Gib- 

82 See this proved by Dr. Mar- son's Codex, Tit. 21. cap. i, p. 
{•hal in his Penitential Discipline, 487. 

chap. 3. f . 4. 85 See page 480.- 

83 See Dr. Marshal, as before. 



Visilation of the Sick. 483 

the ancient formularies for Clinical Absolution^'* : for Sect. V- 
even in the primitive Church, Absolution was granted to 
a sick-bed penitent, though neither excommunication nor 
penance had preceded before. Penance indeed was in 
such cases assigned him, and he stood bound, upon his 
recovery, to comply with the conditions upon which it 
was granted him, and to perform it publicly in the face 
of the Church ; but since he was not at present in such a 
state or capacity, he was by no means whatever to be 
denied a reconciliation, but was admiUed to the one, up- 
on a presumption that, if he lived, he would perform the 
other®^ And as this was the ancient usage of the Church, 
and as our own Church has made choice of a form that 
was used upon these occasions, to be used to a penitent 
in the same circumstances ; why may we not suppose 
that her design was to accommodate, as far as she could, 
our modern office lo the ancient ones? If the Minister 
that visits will use his endeavours, he may certainly bring 
it very near : for he may assign the party that confesses 
to him, certain penitential mortifics^ons to be undergone 
by him, as soon as he recovers anJis able, though they 
bie not publicly submitted to in thefaceof the congrega- 
tion : and he may insist with him, that he shall give some 
proof of his repentance, before he offers to receive the 
Communion in the Church. And if the penitent promises 
to submit to these conditions, the Minister may proceed, 
with a great deal of hopes and satisfaction to himself, and 
with a great deal of comfort and advantage to the pen- 
itent, to reconcile hira to the Church in the Absolution 
itself, and to intercede with, and to recommend him to 
the throne of grace in the prayer that follows. And if 
this too were done before a few chosen serious witness- 
es it would still bear a nearer resemblance to the ancient 
practice. For Tertullian observes, that the Church may 
subsist in a few of her member s^^ ; and our Saviour has 
promised, that where two or three are gathered together in 
his name^ he will be there m the midst of them^^, dind (whicl^ 
to our purpose is somewhat remarl^able) that promise 
follows close after the power he had just before been 
promising to his disciples of binding and loosing them^'*. 



86 See the form, in Dr. Mar- 88 Tertul. de Pcenit. c, 10. 
ahaPs Appendix to his Peniten- 89 Matt, xviii. 20. 

tial Discipline, page 54. 90 See Dr. Marshal as before, 

87 See Dr. MarahH 's Peoiien- pages 219, ^20. 
frni Diecipline, page lo4, &o. 



484 



Of the Order of the 



Private 
Absolu- 
<ion<i for 
Hit fly ea 
joined. 



Chap. XI. §. 6, By the first book of King Edward VI. the same 
form of Absolution was ordered to be used in all private, 
confeosions : i. e. I suppose, whenever any person, whose 
conscience was troubled and grieved in any thing lacking com- 
fort or counsel, should (as it was then worded in the Ex- 
hortation to the Communion) come to some discreet and 
learned Priest taught in the law of God^ and confess and 
open his -stn and grief secretly ; that he might receive such 
ghostly counsel^advice, and comfort, that Jiis conscience might 
be relieved, and ttiat of him (as of the Minister of God and 
of the Church) he might receivt comfort and absolution, to 
the satisfaction of his mind, and avoiding of all scruple and 
doubtfulness. But in the review of the Common Prayer, 
in the fifth year of that prince, our Reformers (observing, 
as I suppose, that this form of Absolution was not very 
ancient, and that persons might place too much confi- 
dence and security in it, as thinking that the bare pro- 
nouncing it over them cleansed them from their inward 
pollution and guilt, and entirely remitted their sins before 
God) left out that rubric in the office appointed for the 
Visitation of the Sick|iand in the Exhprtation to the Com- 
munion mentioned above, somewhat altered the express- 
ions, to show that the benefit of Absolution (of Absolution, 
1 presume, from inward guilt) was not to be received by 
the pronouncing of any form, but by a due application 
and ministry ofGod^s holy word^^. So that all that the 
Minister seems here empowered to transact, in order to 
quiet the conscience of a person that applies to him for 
advice, is only to judge by the outward signs and fruits 
of his repentance, whether his conversion be real and 
sincere ; and if upon examination it appears to be so, he 
is then to comfort him, with an assurance that his sins 
are remitted even in the court of heaven, and that 
he is restored to the grace and favour of Christ. But 
then this he is to deliver, not absolutely, but condition- 
ally ; i. e. upon the presumption that his repentance is 
as sincere as he represents it* He must by no means 
pronounce it as a final judge; because Christ alone can 
discern whetiier his conversion be feigned or real ; and 
consequently he only can absolutely determine the state 
of the man towards God. 

§. 7. As to the form of Absolution, of which we are 
now discoursing, a parenthesis was added at the last re- 
view, to intimate, that this is not to be used even over 



The pves- 
tnt Airm 
Jiot to be 
prouomic- 
fii, unless 
heartily 
(ieiirerf. 



91 John XV. 3. 2 Cor. v. 19. 



Visitaiion of ihe Sifk. 4,85 

the Sickj unless he humbly and heartily desire, ii. For it ^^^^' ^*» 
is fit a man should show an earnest desire, and a due " '" 

sense of so great a benefit, before it is offered him. And 
then if he be rightly instructed in the end and design of 
it, and the form itself be applied with that prudence and 
caution above described, the use of it surely may not 
only tend t© the good of the penitent, but may also prove 
of singular service and advantage to the Church. 

Sect. YL Of, the Psalm and Blessings, 

I. After the sick person is absolved by the Churchy IniTxli 
and recommended to the pardon and grace of God, the p^J^*^^ 
Minister is directed to use in his behalf the seventy-first 
Psalm ; which is so very apt and proper to express the 
?ick man's desires and wants, and at the same time to 
exercise his faith, to inflame his love, to uphold his pa- 
tience, and revive his hope, that not only Ocir own, but 
the Eastern^^, Western% and most churches in the world 
agree in the choice of it for this office*. At the review 
at the Restoration indeed the five last verses were left 
out of our own, as supposing the person restored to his 
former state and prosperity, and so not being suitable 
to be used over one whose case is languishing and dan- 
gerous. 

II. And now to take leave with, a. valedictory Bless- The three 
ing; as it is very fit and decent at all times, so it is ne- ^'^^ssings. 
cessary, when we depart from a friend, whose case is 
such as that perhaps we may see his face no more. For 
this reason the office is concluded with three solemn 
Blessings; the first of which is an address to God the 
Son» the second to the Father, and the third (which was 
added at the last review) to the holy and undivided Trin- 
ity ; and all assist to procure to the patient the greatest 
Blessings he can need or desire.t 

Sect. VII. Of the Unction prescribed by ihe first Common 
Prayer Book of King Edward VI. 

After the second of the aforesaid Blessings, i, e, at Unction of 

the Sick 
92 Eucholog. p. 418, 419. 93 Manual. Sarisb. fol. 37. prescribed 

*For the 71st P?alm, the American office substitates the 130tb. Commun 

t Before the final blessing, the following rubric is inserted in the A- prs,rer 

raerican office ; *' Here the Minister may use any part of the service BqqJj ^f 

of this Book, which in his discretion, he shall think convenient to the j^j^g g^j. 

occasion ; and after that shall say, ^* Unto God*s gracious mercy," &c. ^^rd VL 

Am. Ed, 



486 0fthe Order of the 

CJiap. 5a. the end of the ordinary office for the Visitation of the 
"* Sick m King Edward's first Liturgy, If the sick person de- 

sired to be anointed, the Priest was to anoint him upon the 
forehead or breast only, making the sign of the Cross^ say^ 
ing thus : 

As with this visible Oil thy body &utwardly is anointed, 
^0 our heavenly Father, Almighty God, grant of his infinite 
goodness, that thy Soul inwardly may be anointed with the 
Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, 
and gladness. And vouchsafe for his great mercy {if it be 
his blessed will) to restore unto thee thy bodily health and 
strength to serve him ; and send thee release of all thy pains, 
troubles, and diseases, both in body and mind. And howso' 
ever his goodness {by his divine and unsearchable providence) 
shall dispose of thee, we his unworthy Ministers and Servants 
humbly beseech the eternal Majesty^ to do with thee according 
to the multitude of his innumerable mercies, and to pardon 
thee all thy sins and offences committed by all thy bodily 
senses, passions, and carnal affections ; who also vouchsafe 
mercifully to grant unto thee ghostly strength, by his Holy 
Spirit, to withstand and overcome all temptations and assaults 
of thine adversary, that in no wise he prevail against thee, 
but that thou mayest have perfect victory and triumph a- 
gainst the devil, sin, and death, through Christ, our Lord ; 
who by his death hath overcome the Prince of death, and 
with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, evermore livelh and 
reignelh God, world without end. Amen. 

After this followed the thirteenth Psaim, How long 
wilt thou forget me, O Lord? i^c. 

This seems to have been the remains of both the an- 
cient and popish Unction of the Sick ; which 1 shall show 
by and by diffe'-cd one from the other, as well as it will 
appear they both did from the primitive. But to give 
the reader a distinct view of the case, it will be necessa- 
ry to begin from the famous passage in St. James, upon 
which they were e^ch of them founded and built. Now 
in the last chapter of that epistle, among several other 
instructions which the Apostle was giving to the Jewish 
converts, this, it seems, was one, viz. that ifa?iy was sick 
among them^ he should call for the Elders of the Churchy 
who should pray over him, anointing him with Oil in the 
name of the Lord : the effect of whjch he declared would 
be, that ihe Prayer of Faith should save the Sick^ and the 
Lxfrd should raise him up ; and if he had committed sinSf 



Visitation of the Siilc, 487 

.Ihey should he forgiven hinf\ This is the place on which S ect. VU. 
those that contend for the Unction of the Sick (whether ^ 

popish or ancient) lay all their stress, urging it as a stand- 
ing precept of 8t. James, which was to continue in force 
through all ages of Christianity. 

§.2. But now if we compare these words with theOilusedhty 
context, together with the primitive practice of the Jj^g j^^^^^^j. 
Church, it will evidently appear, that they were only de- ing the 
signed as a temporary institution, proper to the time in Sick ; and 
which the Apostle lived, and suited as well to an ancient ^^y* 
practice of the Jews, as to a miraculous dispensation 
which was then vouchsafed by the Holy Ghost to the 
first Believers of the Gospel. For that the Apostles and 
others, in the first ages of the Church, were endued with 
several extraordinary gifts, almost every page in the 
New Testament declares : and that the power of healing. 
Or miraculously recovering sick persons from their dis- 
eases, w^as one ot these gifts, is also too evident to need 
any proot^** It is sufficient therefore to note, that though 
these operations were effected wholly by virtue of that 
power with which the Apostles and others at that time 
were endued, (insomuch that we read of some that were 
healed by the bare speaking of a word^^ of others that 
were cured by handkerchiefs or aprons^"^, and of others 
again that were recovered by the imposition of hands^^, 
or by the mere shadow of an Apostle as he was passing 
^y^^ j) y^t since it was customary for the Jews to apply 
Oil lo the sick, as an ordinary medicine to heal their dis* 
eases^ ; therefore the Apostles, in working the cures up- 
on those of their own nation, did often make use of the 
same application. For thus we are told, that when the 
twelve were sent forth by our Lord with power, they a- 
nointed with Oil many that were sick, and healed thern^. 
Not that they used Oil, as having any natural force in it 
to procure the effect; but only as a symbol or sign of a 
miraculous recovery : for that the virtue, which attended 
the Unction used by the Apostles, was supernatural, and 
derived from him who sent them, was plain enough from 
hence, that the same means, which at other times were 
at best but of doubtful success, always produced a cer- 
tain cure when applied by them. 

94 James v. 14, 15. 99 Acts v. 15, 16. 

95 See 1. Cor. xii. 9, 28, 30. 1 See Dr. Lightfoot's Work|, 

96 Acts ix. 34. vol. i. page 333. and upon Mark 

97 Acts xix. 11, 12. vi. 13. vol. ii. page 345, 
^8 Mark xvi. 18. ActsxxTiH. 8. 2 Mark vi. 7, 13 



48« Of the Order for the 

(Jhdp. XT. §, 3. ^Anoirilih^ of the Sick therefdrebeinig customary 
~ amorig the Jews, and such anointing, when performed by 

»cribed% ^^^^^ ^^^^ were endued with the gift of healing, being at- 
St. James, "tended with extraordinary and miraculous cures, it was 
and in very natural for St. James, when he was w-riling to the 
^^^^ iioehe tribes which were scattered abroad^ ^ and giving them 
instructions for the behaviour of the Sick, to advise them 
to send for the Elders of the Churchy and to commit the 
application of the Oil to them. Not that he promised that 
the ordinary use of it should always produce such a mi- 
i-aculous effect ; but only that since the elders of the 
church were the persons on whorii the gift of healing was 
generally bestowed, the happiest event from the anoint- 
ing with Oil might reasonably be expected, when it was 
done by them^ And indeed that the Apostle gave this 
advice upon supposition that their following it would of- 
ten be attended with miraculous cures, is plain from the 
ieords in the following verse, where he says, that the 
Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick^ and the Lord shall raise 
him up. Now Faith we know, is often used in Scripture 
for an inward persuasion, that one should be enabled by 
God to do a miracle''; and therefore the Prayer of Faith 
must be a Prayer accompanied with such a persuasion. 
Consequently the meaning of St. James, when he says, 
the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick, must be, that when 
the anointing with Oil, which he directs the elders to per- 
form, should be attended or accompanied with the Prayer 
of Faith, it should save or recover the Sick from his dis- 
ease, and prevail with the Lord to raise hitn up. For it 
is not to be supposed, that they, who were endued with 
this gift, could exercise or exert it upon whom they 
pleased ; but only that when they knev\r, by the impulse 
of the Spirit, that the Lord designed to save any person 
whom they were called upon to anoint, they prayed to 
him with full assurance of success, and the Sick was ac- 
cordingly restored to health. And this being done gen- 
erally to those on whom sickness had been inflicted as 
a chastisement for some sins which they had committed, 
(which was a very common case in the beginning of the 
Church^ ;) therefore it is added, that if he have committed 
sms, they should be forgiven him; i. e. not only his afflic- 
tion or disease should be removed, but his sins, which 

3 James i. 1. xii. 9. and xiil. 2. 

4 Matt. xvii. 20. and xxi. 21. 5 See 1 Cor. xi. 30, 31, S2. 
Mark xi. 23. LuUe xvii. 6. X Cor. John v. 15. 



Visitation of the Sick. 489^ 

were the cause of it, should also be taken away. Sect. VIL 

But farther, that the Prayer of Faith, to which the A- 

postle here attributes the recovery of the Sick, is a 
prayer otferod up by the extraordinary impulse of the 
Spirit, may be gathered from what he adds by way of 
confirmation at the sixteenth verse, viz, that the inspired 
Prayer of a righteous man availeth much : for so the word 
he^ybvfthi} is often used to signify, and so the contej^t 
shows it ought to be translated in this place. For that 
the prayers of Elijah (which the Apostle brings for an 
example in the two following verses) were prayers of 
faith in the sense mentioned above, is plain from the his- 
tory of that Prophet in the first Book of Kings; for as 
we know from St. James, that he prayed that it might 
not rain, and again that it might rain; so we know by that 
history, that he expressly and absolutely foretold to A- 
hab both the one and the other®. And this too being an 
instance of the prevalency of prayer, in pr >ducing of 
strange and sudden events, shows clearly what was meant 
by the Apostle in this place, when he says, that the in- 
spired Prayer of a righteous man availetk much^ viz. that 
it avails to the procuring temporal effects of a strange, 
and surprising, and wonderful nature. 
, I am sensible that, in this interpretation of St. James, 
I differ in one point from several of the most eminent di- 
vines of our Church : and that is, in supposing the Unc- 
tion here mentioned was to be applied indiffer< ntly to- 
wards all that were sick : whereas Dr. Clagget^ Dr. 
Bennet^ , and others are of opinion, that it was not to be 
used \o any but those on whom the elders were assured 
the gift of healing should take place. What inclines me 
,to give a different interpretation of this passage, is the 
fourteenth verse, which seems to be expressed in very 
general terms : Is any sick among you ? let him call for 
the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anoint' 
ing him with Oil in the name of the Lord. 1 his seems, I 
say, to imply, that all that were sick were to send for 
the Elders of the church ; that the Elders of the church 
were to pray over all that sent for them ; and that they 
were to anoint with Oil all whom they prayed over; and 
consequently that they were tO anoint all in general that 
were sick. The following verse indeed, which is con- 

6 1 Kings xvii. 1. and xvjii. 1, Unction, pages 14, 26, 27. 
41. 8 Confutation of Popery, 

7 See his Discourse of Extreme 3ur. 

Ooo 



4 so Of the Order of the 

Chap. XI. cerning i]it Pfayer of Faith, must necessarily Le restrain- 
'^ ed to those drily who were to be miraculously healed r 

for 1 have showed, that the Prayer of Faith \\'>^s, a prayer 
accompanied with a persaasion that the Sick should re- 
cover ; and therefore such a prayer could never be us- 
ed, but over such as the Lord had designed to raise. Sa 
that though, I suppose, what ths Apostle said of Unction 
was a general direction to all that were sick; yet I do 
noc understand him to promise any cure by it, but when 
it should be accompanied with the prayer of Faith. Nor 
3^et do 1 believe that this direction was intended to oblige 
any other branches, or distant ages of the Church; but 
rather that it was designed as a temporary institution^ 
suited to the custom of anointing the Sick, which I have 
observed was, at that time, the ordinary practice of the 
Jews; and which the Apostle did not concern hiraself 
either to abolish or confirm ; but only to require, that 
if the use of it was continued among the converts to 
Christianity, it should always be performed, not by Jew- 
ish, as formerly, but by Christian Elders or Priests. But 
now this, when the Jewish economy ceased, was no lon- 
ger of use to the Christian Church. Most of those who 
afterwards came over to Christanity were Infidels or 
Heathens : who having no such rite amongst them in the 
state they were in before, did not think that they were 
obliged, by this direction of St. James, to take it up when 
they were Christians. 
Wliat ^^ 4^ Accordingly, if we search into the ancfent writ- 

waTusetf ers of the Church, vv*e shall never find any mention of 
in the anointing, but when it wars used as a rite of the gift of 
primitive healing. As the gift of healing indeed was frequent for 
church, several ages after the Apostles ; so we grant that the 
Unction was often made use of to denote the miraculous- 
ness of the cure*' : but then as an ordinary rite, used in 
the Visitation of the Sick, there is not a hmt of it to be 
met with for above six hundred years after Christ: 
though it is well known that the Christian writers, with- 
in that compass of time, discourse very frequently and 
plainly concerning the sacraments and rites of the 
Church, Nay farther, though the manner and circum- 
stances of the deaths of many holy persons within those 

9 Trrtull. ad Scap. C.4. Hieron. weld in Vit. Patnim, pacr. 211, 

ia Vita Hilarionis. Sulpit. Sever, in 343, 451, Sec. Vide et Dal!3eum d« 

Vita Mart. c. 15. August, de Civ- Extrema Uuctione, pag, 85, S6^ 

.•!at. Dei, 1. 22. c. 8. Vide et Ros- 87. et Karon. A. C. 63. n. 4. 



Visitalion of the Sick, 4^1 

centuries are described ; yet there is not the least inti- ^^^^- ^'^^' 
mation any where to be met with, that so much as one 
of them was anointed. 

§. h. About the seventh century, it is true, the anoint- What w^3 
ing of all sick persons whatsoever began to take place: aCterwanj^ 
the chief inducement to which seems to have been ^^e ".^^..^J^^j 
observation of those cures by anointing, that were Church, ' 
wrought by such as had the gift of healing. And indeed, 
if we look back into the history of those times, we shall 
find that very small inducements were sufficient to dis- 
pose men to seek for temporary relief, from things that 
were consecrated to the uses of religion, especially when 
there were some notable exauiples of success. And thus 
in the case before us, the gift of miraculously healing 
with Oil being not yet quite ceased^^ the Christians in 
this century.that laboured under any calamity or disease, 
chose rather to seek for relief and recovery by the use 
and application of the holy Oil, than by any other means. 
And as this too seemed to be countenanced by the text 
in St James, rind also to express the reposing greater 
confidence in God, than in the force of natural remedies, 
it therefore passed off with the less opposition. So that 
from this time, the anointing was not only of those who 
were to be healed ol their diseases by the Prayer of Faith, 
but of all sick persons in general, who were anointed of 
course, in bare hopes of receiving by it some bodily re- 
lief". And perhaps some casual cure«;, which sometimes 
followed this Unction, but which yet might have happen- 
ed without any Unction at all, did not a little contribute 
to support the reputation of it. 

§. 6. However in after-ages another use of it was dis- 
covereel; for when they began to be convinced that it 
did no good to the body, they concluded that at least it 
must have a wonderful virtue towards the saving of the 
soul : so that about the twelfth century it was improved 
into what it is now in the Church of Rome, and applied, Howabus 
not for the recovery of bodily health, but to cleanse the f-l^^u^®. 
soul from its sins, and to prepare it for the next life. For RorJe. 
this reason it was not now used as before, to those of 
whose recovery they had any reasonable hopes, but to 
those only who were looked upon to be at the point of 

10 See Dr. Clagget of Extreme aleo the Defence of the Exposition 
Unction, pages 94, 95. ' of the order of the Chnrch of En^- 

11 Vide Menardi Not. in Sa- land, p. 4.5, &c. 
cram. Gregorii, pag. 341. See 



•192 Of the Order for ikt 

Chap XT. departure. Nor was the Unction applied to those parts 
of tlie body which were the seat of the disease ; but to 
the eyes, ear?>, and nostrils, to the mouth, hands, and feet, 
and lastly, to tht reins, as the several seats of sin. And 
this is the Unction which to this day is practised by the 
Church of Ronie ; having been first publicly owned by 
Eu^enius ly. at the close of the Florentine Synod, to b^ 
the fitih Sacrament ; and then, in the next age, being 
established by the council of Trent under the severest 
anathemas or curses^^ But this only relates to theChurch 
of Rome: for though the Greek Church hath in some 
things been guilty of modern innovations ; j^et their Unc- 
tion is apparentlj^ that Unction which began in the sev- 
enth age after Christ". So that the practice of the 
Greeks has some antiquitj' to plead ; wheieas that of the 
Church of Rome came in but lately in comparison, and 
may alinost be called an invention of yesterday. 

§. 7. For this reason, when our Reformers came to 
draw up an office for the Visitation of the Sick, as they 
had some reasons to induce them not to lay aside the 
rite of anointing entirely; yet they changed it from the 
popish to that of the ancients. It is true, in the prayer 
which they appointed to be used, there is a petition for 
the. pardon of all the sins and offences commiHed by the bod- 
"ily senses, passions^ and carnal affections of the patient: 
but this is so worded, as not to have any necessary ref- 
erence to the Oil ; which may well enough be understood 
to be applied to the Sick, in order to restore to him his 
bodily health and strength. Besides, the Unction here al- 
lowed could not be called extreme, because it might be 
ministered to any that were sick : nor yet was it to be 
applied lo all the organs of sense, but only to the fore- 
head or breast of the patient. But, in short, and once 
for all, the Unction in that book was not so much aS "en- 
joined or prescribed," but only indulged to such as might 
probably, in the infancy of the Reformation, be uneasy 
without it : for the rubric does not order nor suppose 
any Unction, unless the sick person himself desire it : 
and therefore when Bucer found fault with it in his cen- 
;-;ure^;', it was entirely discontinued in the second book of 
King Edward. And Indeed if that Reformer had never 
attempted any worse amendments, he had betrayed less 
want of learning, and done more service to the Church. 

12 Vide Canones et Decreta in Arcnd. de Extr. Uoct. c, 7. 
Concil. Trident. Sess. 14. Sect. Hisita, Szc. Vid. et EuchO" 

33 Vide Simeon. Thessalonic. log. per Goar. p. 40b', &c. 



Visitation of the Sick. 493 

Sect, vnu 



Sect. VIII. Of the Occasional Prayers, 

There is so much variety in the state of Sickness, 
that it is impossible one form, though it were ever so 
complete, should be contrived to fit all particular occa- 
sions. As to those whose distemper lies chiefly in the 
body, and who are of an age that is capable of comfort 
and advice, and have also their senses and understand- 
ings entire, and faculties and time enough to exercise all Howneed- 
the forementioned duties of religion ; the former office is ^"'» ^'"^ 
very suitable and proper. But there are singular cases ^^[g"^^ 
which require peculiar prayers, and more indeed than 
it is easy to provide for in any stated forms; however, 
there are four which our Church took notice of at the 
last review, and for which therefore she hath provided 
four suitable prayers.* 

I. The first of these is for a sick Child : in which case, 
as a fondness and love of the parents will direct them to 
use all human means for its recovery ; so Christianitj'* 
should instruct them to turn the violence of their passion 
into fervent addresses to Almighty God to help it. He 
gave it at first, and He only can preserve it : and it was 
the trust of the Shunamite in his power to save, that en- The 
couraged her to apply herself to the prophet Elisha, even ^^^y^^ ^Q^ 
when her son was actually dead, which procured for her chUd. 

a success as wonderful as her faith". And though when 
Jairus went to Jesus for his dying child, the disease prov- 
ed swifter than his utmost haste ; yet our Lord reward- 
ed the faith of the parent with the restoration of the 
daughter's life^®. Such miracles indeed we must not now 
expect : but yet, if we seek the prayers of the Chiirck 
with due humility and faith, there is no doubt but they 
will assist very much in the cure ; and that if any means 
can move God to spare them, this will. 

II. The second of these prayers is for a sick person^ 

♦In the American office are added three more. 1st, a Prayer which 
may be said by the IVIinister in behalf of all present at the Visitation, 
2. A Prayer which may be paid in case of sudden surprise and imme- 
diate danger — and 3. A Thanksgiving for the beginning of a recoverj. 

Am. El), 

'i4 Bucer. pag. 489. 16 Matthew ix. 

75 2 Kings iv. 



494 Ofihe Order for the 

Chap. XI. when there appearetk small hope of recovery. For wheu 

-'- the disease hath almost got the victory of the Sick, it i& 

not to be expected that the man should do much on his- 
part for the bettering of his future state. And therefore 
The Pray- since (it is to be hoped) he hath already gone through 
er for a the preparatory exercises of patience and submission, of 
SIC per- |v^j^j^ ^^^ repentance, of thankfulness and charity ; but 
ihere^P- ^^ "°^ rendered uncapable of any other office ; the Min- 
peareth ister must take care that at least he do not want such far- 
small hope ther benefits as the Church has provided for him in this 
of recove- excellent form : which is also very proper to be used, 
"when any sudden disease puts a man beyond all hopes 
of recovery at the first assault ; or when any, though vis- 
ited with a lingering disease, have yet wretchedly defer- 
red to send for a Minister, till there is as little to be done 
for the procuring their salvation, as there is for the re- 
storing of their bodily health. However, since they are 
now uncapable of those other comforts and advantages 
which this office directs, it is fit we should do all that pos- 
sibly we can, and that is to pray for them heartily in 
this form, the only means left in such an emergency.' 

Ill, The third is a Commendatory Prayer for asickper^ 

son at the point of departure : for we know that when the 

dust returns to 'he earth as it was, the spirit returns unto 

God that gave iF : and therefore our Saviour himself, 

when he was expiring on the Cross, cries out to his Fa- 

TJie Com- ther, Into thy hands I commend my spirit^^. And that we 

roendatory are to imitate his holy example, is evident from the 

TTick p'^J. pi'actice of his first martyr St. Stephen, who also at his 

son at the death commended his soul into the hands of his Redeem- 

poin^ of er^^. Accordingly the succeeding ages of the Church 

departure, ajyvays observed the same religious rite^°: and indeed it 

is unlikely that any one should omit it, w^ho believes, as 

they did, that every one that dies, before he can reach 

the seat of bliss, must pass through the dominion of evil 

Spirits, who are ready to be sure, to snatch at and seize 

all unhappy souls who approach their territories, without 

a guard of holy angels to preserve them from their power, 

and to conduct them safe to a place of repose^^ For this 

reason, because there are but few, who, at the instant of ^ 

departure, are able to implore this protection for thera- 

17 Eccle?. xii. 7, 21 Vide Just. Mart. Dial, cum 

IC Luke xxii. 46. Tjrpb. p. 333. Compare ah Eph, 

19 Act* vit. 59. ii. 2. and vi. 12. with Luke xvi-S^. 
^0 llieron. in Psal. xxx. 



Visitation of the Sich 495 

selves ; therefore our Church, in imitation of the saints of Sect. VIi! ; 
former ages^^ calls in the minister, and others who are at ' ''" 

hand, to assist their brother in his last extremity. In or- 
der to this she directs, that zohen any is passing out of this 
life, a Bell shall be tolled, and the minister shall not then be 
slack to do hs last dutxj^^. The Passing-Bell indeed is now 
generally disused, and only the short Peal continued, 
which the canon orders to be rung after the Parl'tfs death* T^^I^^^' 
But the former was certainly of much more use, to give ^JJ^* ^^J 
notice to all within the sound of it, to put up their last derered. 
and most affectionate prayers for their dying neighbour, 
and to help their friend in those extremities, which them- 
selves must assuredly one day feel. However, if their 
prayers are wanted, it is more requisite that the minister 
should be more diligent in /iw, who should therefore con- 
stantly be sent for, when thpse agonies approach, that 
so, by the use of this excellent composure, he may assist 
the dying soul in its flight to God, and alarm the living 
by such an example of mortality. 

IV, The fourth and last of these prayers is, /or persons 
troubled in Mind or Conscience* For when any become 
melancholy through bodily distempers, or by evil prin- 
ciples are troubled with dismal and false apprehensions The Pray- 
of God, or are too much disturbed in their inward peace er for per- 
and quiet, through a dreadful sense of their former sins; b^g^^n^"" 
It is fit that the spiritual physician should be called, that Mind and 
lie may discreetly apply the promises of God, and en- in Con- 
deavour to obtain his consolation and mercy for the de- science* 
jected penitent's deplorable state : to which purpose the 
prayer that is here provided, is very pertinent and useful. 

22 Possidon. in Vita August. 23 €anon LXVII. 
c. ?1. 



496 Of the. Communion of the Sick, 

APPENDIX TO CHAP. XL 
OF THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. 

Sect. I. Of the general Rubric, 

Appendix Forasmuch as all mortal men be subject torhany sud^ 
Chap. XI. den perils^ diseases and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what 

time they shall depart out of this life ; therefore to Ihi intent 

The gene- they may be always in a readiness to die, whensoever it shall 
ral rubric pUase Almighty God to call them, the Curates are diligently 
ibunr°*t- y**^^ ^^^^ '^ '*"^^ (^"^ especially in the time of Pestilence or 
ing the Other infectious sickness) to exhort the Parishioners to the 
3ick, often receiving of the holy Communion of the Body and Blood 

ofoUr Saviour Christ, when it shall be publicly administered 
in the Church ; that so doing they may, in case of sudden 
Visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the 
same. But if the sick person be not able to come to the 
Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Cammunion in his 
House, then he must give timely notice to the Curate ; who, 
in such a case, is here directed to celebrate and admin<* 
ister this holy Sacrament to him ; which is exactly con- 
tiFihT ^ formable to the most early practice of the primitive 
practice of Church : for there is nothing more frequently mentioned 
the primi- by the ancient writers, than the care of the Church to 
Church distribute the Eucharist to all dying persons that were 
capable of receiving it. They esteemed it the greatest 
unhappiness that could be for any one to die before he 
had been supplied with this *E^ohav, or Viaticum, (as the 
ancient canons^^ frequently call it,) z. e. the necessary prep- 
aration or provision for the road, for those that are going 
to their eternal home. For this reason even those who 
were under the censures of the Church, and were sus- 
pended from the Eucharist in the time of their health, 
were yet allowed to communicate, if any danger of death 
surprised them, before they had finished their stated pen- 
ance^^ Nay, about the fifth century this was carried so 
iiigh, that some were for forcing the elements into the 
mouths of those that were dead: but this was soon cen- 

24 Concil. Nicen. 1. Can. 13. 25 Vide Canonescitat. inNot.fq.) 
Concil. Araus. 1. Can, 3 Concil. etGreg. Njss.Ep, adLetoium Me- 
Agathens. Can. 11. jitenes. Can, 5. torn. i. p. 953. A. 



Of the Coramuniou of the Sick, 497 

sured by several councils, which ordered that practice Sect. I. 
to be disconLinucd^^ However, the care of the Church " *" 
to communicate the Sick has been equally the same in 
all ages. And indeed that she looks upon this not on- 
ly as convenient, but as highly necessary, may be gath- 
ered from the dispensation that she grants with the can- 
tons, purely to secure it, ' 

§. 2. For though administering the communion in pri- private 
vate houses be forbid by the canons of 1603^^, as well as Consecra- 
by those of ancient timcs^^ under the severest penalties ; ^f" ^^ ^}^ 
yet there is an exception made m the case of sickness ; ^^^^ f^^ 
upon which occasion, both the canons above mentioned, allowed, 
and this present rubric, allow the Curate (having a con- 
-valient place in the sick man''s house, with all things neces^ 
sary no prepared, that he may reverently minis ter)there to ceU 
ebrate the holy communion. This indulgence was rare in 
the primitive Cfmrch : however, some instances maybe 
produced, even from thence, of private consecrations up- 
on great eraergencieji^^. But, generally speaking, it was 
usual for the Ministers to reserve some part of the ele- 
ments, that had been consecrated before, in the Church, 
to be always in a readiness upon such like occasions^^. 
Agreeably to which in this very rubric (as it was word- 
ed in King Edward's first Common Prayer) it was order- 
ed, that if the same day (on which the person was to be 
visited) there was a ccltbration of the holy Commimion in 
Jjte Church, then the Priest was to reserve (at the open Com- 
munion) so much of the Sacrament of the Body and Bloody 
us would serve the sick person, and so many as were to com- 
municate with him, {if there WAre any:) and so soon as he. 
conveniently could, after the open Communion ended in the 
Church, he loas to go and minister the same, ^c. But then 
this reservation was not allowed, unless there was a Com- 
munion at the Church on the same day on which the 
sick person was to be visited : for by another rubric it 
was ordered, that if the day were jiot appointed for the open 
Communion in the Church, then {upon convenient warning 
given) the Curate was to go and visit the sick person afore 
noon ; and having a convenient place in the nek man^s house 
{where he might reverently celebrate) with all things necess' 
any for the &ame, and not being otherwise letted with the pub' 

« 

'26 Coiici!. Carlhasr. 3, Can. 2. 29 See BiDt;h^ji.V Anti^uiiieg, 

Concil. Trull. Can. 83. book xv. chap. 4. {. 10. 

27 Canon LXXI. 30 Bingham, ibid. }. 9. and 11. 

5« Concil. Trull. Can. SI. 

Prp 



498 Of the Communion of the Sick. 

Appendix Hq service^ or any other just impediment, there to celebrate 
Chap^ XI '''^ ^^^y Communion, And even the elements that were 
' consecrated thus privately were to be reserved, if there 
was any occasion to administer the Sacrament again that 
day. For so it was ordered by a third rubric of this 
office in the same book, that if there were any more sick 
persons to he visited the same day that the Curate celebrated 
in any sick man^s house ; then the Curate zoas there to re- 
serve so much of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood, as 
would serve the other sick persons, and such as were appoint- 
ed to communicate with them, (if there were any,) and imme- 
diately to carry it and minister it unto them. So that from 
all these rubrics compared together, we may observe, 
first, that though anciently it was usual for the Ministers 
to reserve some part of the consecrated elements, either 
in the church or at their houses, to be always in a read- 
iness tor anj that should want to receive, before the time 
came to consecrate again"; yet after the Reformation 
it was never allowed to reserve them longer than that 
day on which they were consecrated, nor indeed to re- 
serve them at all, unless the Curate knew before-hand 
that some sick person was that day to be visited. We 
may therefore, secondly, suppose, that it was not the de- 
sign of our Reforiaers to attribute more power or effica- 
cy to the Sacrament, when it was consecrated in the 
church, than it had when it was consecrated in a private 
house ; but rather that the Sick, by partaking of the el- 
ements which had been consecrated elsewhere, and of 
which his fellow-parishioners or neighbours had been 
partakers before him, might join as it were in the same 
Communion with the rest of the congregation, though 
his present infirmity hindered him fiH)m attending the 
public service of the Church. And this, it seems, was 
generally the motive, why the Sacrament was sent about 
to one another in the primitive Church^^ Nor do 1 find 
that Bucer had any objection to it in his censure upon 
our Liturgy. However, in the second book of King Ed- 
ward VI. all these rubrics, as far as they relate to the 
reservation, were laid aside. Though in a Latin trans- 
lation of the Common Prayer-Book, which was put out 
by authority in the second year of Queen Elizabeth, for 
the use of the Universities and the Colleges of Winches- 
ter and Eton, the rubric for the reservation is inserted at 

31 See Mr. Bingham as before, 32 See Mr. Bingham as before, 
^. 11. #. 8. 



Of the Communion of the Sick, 499 

large. The reason of this difference might probably be Sect. I. 
this,uzz. that the reservation having; beenabused by some 
ignorant and superstitious people, just after the Reforma- 
tion, was the cause why it was discontinued in the English 
Common Prayer liook : but the Latin Book being de- 
signed for the use of learned societies, the reservation 
might safely enough be trusted with them, upon a pre- 
sumption that they, who enjoyed so much light, would 
be the less liable to abuse it to error and superstition. 
Though it is not unlikely, that this might be indulged 
those learned bodies, in order to reconcile them the eas- 
ier to reformation : for it was the design of Queen Eliz- 
abeth Cas I have more than once observed) to contrive 
the Liturgy so, as to oblige as many of each party as 
she could. However (except in this Latin translation 
of it) there has been no mention of the reservation in any 
of the Common Prayer Books since the first of King Ed- 
ward. But the rubric has constantly enjoined the holy 
Communion to be celebrated, on such occasion, in the 
sick maii^s house, 

§. 3. When the sick person desires to receive the Com- Timely 
munion in his house, he must give timely notice to the Cu- ^^^^^,^ ^^ 
rate; which ought to be some time over nighty or else ear- xoihl^ 
hf in the morning of the same day, as it was expressed in Curate, 
this rubric in all the Common Prayer Books till the last 
review : since otherwise the Curate, through other ne- 
cessary avocations, may, for want of such notice, be out 
.of the way at the time that he is wanted. 

§. 4. When the sick person gives notice, he is also to How ma- 
signifyhow many there are to communicate with him ; which ^J requir- 
was ordered (as appears by the first Common Prayer) ^uQ^ca^e^' 
that the Minister might know how much of the sacred el- with tue 
cments to reserve. It is also plain by the first and last Sick. 
of those rubrics, which I have above transcribed out of 
that book, that the Minister was allowed, in all cases of 
Sickness, to communicate alone with the sick man, if 
there were none else to receive with him. For they or- 
der him to reserve so much of the Sacrament as shall 
serve the sick person, and so many as shall communicate 
with him, {if there he any ;) which plainly supposes, that, 
if there were none,he was only to reserve enough for him- 
self and the sick man. And so in the rubric relating to 
the manner of the Minister's distributing; he was first to 
receive the Commuiiion himself, then to minister to those 
that were appointed to communicate with the Siok^^if there 



BOO Of the Commnion of the Sick. 

Appendix were any^) and then to the sick person. H'owoTer, it I'ol- 
*^ lowed ill that rubric, that the sick person ihould always dr.- 
^P' sire some^ either of his own house, or else of his neighbours, 
to receive the holy Communion with him ; for that woul-d be 
to him a singular great comfort^ and of their part a great 
token of charity f But at the second review, these parenth- 
eses were all thrown out, and in all our Common Prayers 
ever since till the Restoration, ogoocZnwmfter was requir- 
ed by this 2jeneral rubric to receive the Communion with 
the sick person, without determining what number should 
be esteemed a good one. But the Scotch Common Prayer 
is a liitle more explicit, and orders a sufficient number, at 
least tzoo or three ; and from thence, I suppose, our own 
rubric, at the Restoration, ordered that there should be 
three or two at least, i. e. at least three, including the Sick, 
to communicate with the Minister, which is the same 
number that is required to a Communion in theChurch^^« 
However, at the same time that such a number was re- 
quired in all ordinary Sicknesses, (?". e. in the fifth year 
of King Edward,) there was a rubric added at the end 
of this office, (which has continued ever since,) that in 
ike time of the Plague. Siveat, or such other like coniagrous 
times of Sickness or Diseases, zcjicn none nf the parish or 
neighbors can be gotten to communicate with the Sick in 
their houses, for fear of the infection, upon special re- 
quest of the diseased, the jMinisler may alone communiicate 
with him. But this is only indulged in such extraordi- 
nary cases ; for in other ordinary diseases, lack of com^ 
pany to receive with the sick person, is mentioned as a 
just impediment why the Sacrament should not be ad- 
ministered to him^^ 

Sect. II. Of the form of Administering, 

The Col- T^^ Curate having a convenient place in the sickmanh- 
lect, Epi- house, with all things necessary so prepared, that he may 
?tie, and reverently minister, be was by the first Common Prayer 
Gjspel. . j^ introduce the office with the hundred and seven- 
teenth Psalm, which was instead of the Introit, and 
then to use the short Litanj^, Lord have mercy upon us,^c, 
with the usual salutation, The Lord be zoith you, — <^c. 
But fntroits now being laid aside, he is to begin imme- 
diately with the Collect, that is very proper to the oc- 

33 See iJie ih'ivi] Rubric after 34 See the third Rubric at the 
< he Comuiiinion ofFice. end of the Communion of the Sick* 



Of the Communion of the Sick. 50 1 

casion, which is followed by two passages of Scripture Sect. IJ. 

for an Epistle and Gospel, which evidently tend to com- ' 

fort and deliver the sick man from the fears which he 

may be too apt to entertain. Jifter which he is to proceed, „ 

according to the form before prescribed for the holy Com- of the 

mvnioi}., beginning at these words [Ye that do truly, ^c] Commu- 

§. 2» J]nd if the stck person is visited, and receiveth ^^^^ Office 

the holy Communion all at one tirne ; then the Priest,/or *® ® ^ ' 

more expedition, is to cut off the form of Visitation at the 

Psalm, [In thee, O Lord, have 1 put my trust 5] ?.€. How much 

when he comes to that Psalm, he is not to use it, but to f}}^^ ^Jl^' 
1 j^ tation Of- 

go strait to the iyommunion, ficeatswch 

§, S. At the time of the distribution of the holy Sacrament^ time may 
the Priest is first to receive the Communion himself, and af' beomitjed. 
ter to minister unto them that are appointed to commi/7«- In what 
cate with the Sick, and last of all to the sick person. The ^^j^^g/eHs 
Minister, we know, is always to receive the Communion to deliver 
himself, before he p! ocreds to deliver it to others : but the Ele- 
the reason perhaps why the sick man is to receive last, ™ents. 
may be, because those who communicate with him, 
through fear of some contagion, or the noisomeness of 
his disease, may be afraid to drink out of the same cup 
after him. 

§. 4. Lastly, because it may happen sometimes that a The Ru- 
sick person, who desires to receive the Communion, brie of in- 
may yet, by some casualty, be hindered from doing it ; ^0^"^^^"^ 
therefore here is a rubric added for their comfort, and ^vho have 
to remove all fears that may arise on such occasions : no oppor- 
by which the Curate is directed, that, if a Man, either t"n'ty of 
by reason of extremity of Sickness, or for want of giving '*.' 

Tharning in due time, or for lack of company to receive with 
him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the 
Sacrament of ChrisCs Body and Blood, he is to instruct 
him, that if he do truly repent him of his Sins, and stead- 
fastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon 
the Cross for him, and shed his Blood for his Redemption, 
earnestly remembering the Benefits he hath thereby, and 
giving him hearty thanks therefore, he doth eat and 
drink tlie Body arid Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably 
to his SouVs health, although he do not receive the Sacra* 
ment with his mouth. For the means, whereby we par- 
take of the bervefits of this Sacrament, is a Lively Faith : 
and therefore as our Church asserts in her Articles^^ 

35 Article XXIX. 



502 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 



Chap. XII, that the wicked, and such as be void of a lively Faith, at- 
" though they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth 
(as St. Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and 
Blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of 
Christ, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink 
the Sign and Sacrament of so great a thing : so here she 
declares, that if a sick man be hindered by any just im- 
pediment from receiving the Sacrament of Christ's Body 
and Blood ; yet by faith and Repentance, and by men- 
tally laying hold of the Benefits obtained for him by 
Christ, he doth eat and drink the Body ar^d Blood of our 
Saviour Christ profitably to his SouPs health, although he 
do not receive the Sacrament with his rnouth, 

§. 5. The last rubric, which is concerning the Min- 
ister's communicating alone with the sick person, in 
times of contagious Sickness, has already been spoken 
to in §. 4. of the foregoing section. 



♦The last 
Hubric. 



CHAP. XII. 



Of the Order for the BURIAL of the DEAD. 
The Introduction. 



Bodies an 
f.ct of 
Reliirion. 



?ntroouc t. jp ^|j ^^^ prayers and endeavours for our friend prove 
unavailable for the continuance of his life, we must 
The Care with patience submit to the will of God, to whom the is- 
of Dead sues of Life and Death belong-, and therefore, after re- 
commending his soul to God, which immediately upon 
its dissolution returns to him, it is fit we should decently 
dispose of his body, which is left to our management 
and care. Not that the Dead are any thing the better 
for the honours which we perform to their corpses (for 
we know that several of the ancient philosophers cared 
not whether they were buried or not^e ; and the ancient 
martyrs of the Christian Church despised their perse- 
cutors for threatening them with the want of a grave.) 
But those who survive could never endure that the 
shame of nature should lie exposed, nor see the bodies 
of those they loved become a prey to birds and beasts". 
For these reasons the very Heathens called it a divine 



36 Plato in Thsedo. 182. Cicer. 
Tusculan. Qusest. 



37 See % Sam. xx. 10. and Lac* 
tant. 1. 6. 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dedd. 503 

inslitulioifS and a law of the immortal gods^^ And the Introduct, 
Romans especially had a peculiar deity to preside over * 

this affair '^. The Athenians were so strict, that they 
would not admit any to be Magistrates, who had not 
taken care of their parents sepulture'*^ and beheaded 
one of their Generals after he had gotten a victory, for 
throwing the dead bodies of the slain, in a tempest, into 
the sea '*. And Plutarch relates, that before they en- 
gaged with the Persians, they took a solemn oath, that 
if they were conquerors, they would bury their foes ; 
this being a privilege which even an enemy hath a right 
to, as being a debt which is owing to humanity. 

§. 2. It is true indeed, the manner of Funerals has va- Funeral^ 
ried according to the different customs of several coun- variously 
tries : but all civilized nations have ever agreed in per-P^''^°^°^" 
forming some funeral rites or other. The most ancient 
manner was bj burying them in the Earth ; which is in- yiz. Some- 
deed so natural, that some brutes have been observed, times by 
by mere instinct, to bury their Dead with wonderful Burying, 
care "^^ The body, we know, was formed of the Dust ^J^ost^^ 
at first, and therefore it is fit it should return to the earth ancient 
as it was^*; insomuch that some Heathens have, by the and natu.- 
light of reason, called burying in the earth, the being '^^ 
hid in our mother'' s Zap, and the being covered with her 
skirt 45. And that Interment, or inclosing the dead body 
in the grave, was used anciently by the Egyptians, and 
other nations of the East, is plain from the account we 
have of their embalming, and from their mummies, 
which are frequently found to this day whole and en- 
tire, though some of them have lain above three thous- 
and years in their graves. That the same practice of 
burying was used by the Patriarchs, and their success- 
ors the Jews, we have abundant testimony from the 
most ancient records in the world, the books of Moses ; 
by which we find, that their Funerals were performed, 
and their Sepulchres provided with an officious piety ^"5 
and that it was usual for parents to take an oath of their 

38 Isocrat. Panathem. 44 See Gen. iii. 19. Eccles.. 

39 Eurip. in Supplic. Bophoc. xii. 7. 

in Anti^on. 45 See the Notes upon Grotius 

40 Plut, Vit. Numae. de Veritat. Relig. Christian. J. i. 

41 Xenoph. Rer. memorabil. p. }. 26. p. 40. Edit. Cler. Amstel. 
587. 1709. 

42 VftJer. Max. 1. 9, c. 8. 46 Gen. xxiii. 4. chap, xxv, 9. 

43 Oris:, in Cels. I. 4. .Elian, chap. xxxv. 2S. chjf), xhx. 31, 
Bh\. Animal. 5. 49, 



504 Of the Order fur tht Burial of the Dead 

Giiap XII. children (which they reh'giously performed) that they 

should bury them with their fathers, and carry their 

bones with them, whenever they quitted their land 
where they were ^^ In succeeding ages indeed it be- 
. And some- came a custom in some places to burn the bodies of the 
Burning^ Dead : which was owing partly to a fear that some in- 
jury might be offered them if they were only buried by 
digging their corpses again out of their graves ; and 
partly to a conceit, that the souls of those that were 
burnt were carried up by the flames to heaven ''*. 
Burving §• *^' ^"^ though other nations sometimes used Inter- 

always ment^ and sometimes Burning ; yet the Jews confined 
used by themselves to the former alone. There is a place or 
Christrns ^^^ indeed in our translation of the Old Testament ^^ 
' which might lead us to imagine that the rite of burning 
was also used by them sometimes. But upon consult- 
ing the original texts, and the customs of the Jews, it 
does not appear that the Burnings there mentioned were 
any thing more than the burning of odours and spices 
about their bodies, which was an honour they usually 
performed to their kings ^°. So that, notwithstanding 
these texts, we may safely enough conclude, that Inter- 
ment, or Burying ; was the only rite with them ; as it 
was also in after-times with the Chistian Church. For 
wherever Paganism was extirpated, the custom of Burn- 
ing was disused ; and the first natural way of laying up 
the bodies of the deceased entire in the grave, obtained 
in the room of it. 
Always §. 4. And this has always been done with such sol- 

performed ejiifjjty as is proper to the occasion. Sometimes in- 

witn due tiv', ^ ^ ^ ii-i • .1. 

solemnity, deed It has been attended with an expensive pomp, that 

is unseemly and extravagant. But this is no reason why 
we should not give all the expressions of a decent re- 
spect to the memory of those whom God takes from us. 
The description of the persons who interred our Saviour, 
the enumeration of their virtues, and the everlasting 
commendation of her who spent three hundred penny- 
worth of spikenard to anoint his body to the burial, have 
always been thought sufficient grounds and encourage- 
ments for the careful and decent sepulture of Christians. 
And indeed, if the regard due to a human soul rendered 

47 Gen. xlvH. 29, 30, 31. ch. 48 PHn. Nat. Hist. I. 7. c. 54. 

nWui, 29. to 33. chap. 1. 25, 26. 49 1 Sam. xxxi. 12. Amop.vi.lO. 

Exod.xiii. 19. Sec also Josh. xxiv. 50 See 2 Chron. xvi. 14. ch. 

Acts vii. 16, Heb. xj. 22. xxi. 1 9. Jer. xxxiv. 5. 



*JO 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 505 

Some respect to the Dead a principle that manifested it- Introdu©. 
self to tlie common sense of Heathens, shall we think *" ^ 

that less care is due to the bodies of Christians, who 
once entertained a more glorious inhabitant, and were 
living temples of the Holy Ghbst^^? to bodies which 
were consecrated to the service of God ; which bore 
their part in the duties of religion ; fought the good 
light of faith and patience, self-denial and' mortification ; 
and underwent the fatigue of many hardships and af- 
flictions for the sake of piety and virtue ? to bodies 
which, we believe, shall one day be awakened again 
from their sleep of Diiaih ; have all their scattered par- 
ticles of dust summoned together into their due order, 
and he fashioned like the glorious hody of Christ ^^ as be- 
ing made partakers of the same glory with their immor- 
tal souls, as once they were of the same sufferings and 
good works ! Surely bodies so honoured here, and to 
be so glorified hereafter, and which too we own, even 
in the state 6f Death, to be under the care of a divine 
providence and protection^ are not to he exposed and 
despised by us as unworthy of our regard. Moved by 
these considerations, the primitiveChristians, though they 
made no use of ointments whilst they lived, yet they did 
not think the most precious too costly to be used about 
the Dead ^^- And yet this was so far from t)eing re- 
proached with superstition, that it is ever reported as a 
laudable custom, and such as had somethmg in it so 
engaging, so agreeable to the notions of civilized nature, 
as to have a very considerable influence upon the Hea- 
thens, who observed and admired it; it becoming mstru- 
mental in the disposing them to a favourable opinion at 
first, and afterwards to the embracing of the Christian 
Religion, where these decencies and tender regards to 
deceased friends and good people were so constantly, 
so carefully, and so religiously practised ". 

§. 5. To say exactly what was the Primitive Office or The an- 

Form at the committing a Christian to the ground, is a *'»^'^t ^<>''°i 
° ° ' of Burial. 

51 1 Cor. vi. 19. mind of those things by which he 

52 Phil. iii. 21. Sec also 1 for. thought the Chri-^tians gained upoa 
iv. 42, 43, 44 the world, and recommends them 

53 Minut. Felix, c. 12. p. 69. to the practice of the Heathen 
Arnob. 1. 5. Clem. Alex. Paeda- Priests, viz. the Gravity of their 
gog. 1. 2. c. 8. pag. 176. A. Carriage, their Kindness to <tran- 

54 This was observed by Julian gers, and their care for the Burial 
the Apostate, who writing to an of the Dead. Epist. 49. ad Arsa^ . 
tdolatrous High-Priest, put him in tium. 



506 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead, 

Chap. Xir difBcult matter; but we are sure that Psalms were a 
principal part of it, from the concurrent trsiimonies of 
ancient writers **. Not but that these were accompani- 
ed with suitable Prayers for the restitution of the de- 
ceased, with Praises of those virtues which they were 
eminent for whilst living, and with ample Recommenda- 
tions of their good example to those who survived. And 
how agreeable our present office is to this, will be best 
seen by taking a distinct view of its particulars, which I 
shall now proceed to do in the same order that they 

' lie. 

Sect. I. Of the first Huhric, 

Chrrsfian ''p HOUGH all persons are, for decency, and some 
Bnrial de- other of the reasons that have been mentioned above, to 
sofle lorts ^^ P'^^ undp.r ground ; yet^ it appears by the rubric, (which 
of persons, w as perfixed to this office at the last review,) as well 
a^ by th^ canons of fhe ancient C'hirrcb, that some 
are not capable of Christian Burial. Here it is to be 
noted^ that the office ensuing is not to be used for any (hat 
die unbaptized, or excommunicate^ or have laid violent hands 
upon themselves,'^ 
As, first.to 1. The prabibking the Burial-Office to be used for 
suc!^ as die ^^^ of these, is exactly agreeable to the ancient prac- 
tized, tice of the Church. Fch*, first, in relation to such as 
die unbaptised^ the first council of Bracara, which was 
held A. D. 5b3, determines, that there should be no Obla^ 
tions or Commemorations made for them^ neither should tht 
office of Singing be used at their Funerals '^ Not that the 
Church determines any thing concerning the future state 

55 Const. Ap. 1. 6. c. 30. p. 351. cil. Tolet. 3. Can 22. torn, v, coL 
359. Chrys. Horn. 4. in Ep. ad 1U14. D. 

Htbr. tona.iv. p. 453. lin.35.Con- 56 Concil. Bracar. 1. Can. It. 

torn. V. col. 841. C. 

♦ The American Rubric runs (hus: "Here it is to be noted that 
the • flice ensuing is not to be used for any unbabtiard Adults, any 
who d'xe excommunicate, or who have laid, &c. Consequently there 
is no prohibition to use the office in the case of unbaptized infants. 
In the General Cvuveotion ol 1808 a resolution was passed, that the 
ministers of this church ought n -t to perform the funeral service, in the 
case of any person who s!)all give or accept a challenge to a duel ;** 
but in the next General Convention (1811) the resolution was so far 
modi6ed as not to preclude any minister, from performing the burial 
service, when the person g'iviug or receiving a chdllerjge has afterward* 
exhibited evidences of sincere repentance. Am^ Ed. 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead, 507 

of those that depart before they are admitted to bap- ^^**- ^* 
tism: but since they have not been received within the 
pale of the Church, we cannot properly use an office at 
their Funeral, which all along supposes the person that 
is buried to have died in her communion. 

§. 2. Whether this office is to be used over such as Whether 
have been baptized by the Dissenters or Sectaries, who P^''*"^"s 

1 1 ••/•.! 1 • • r , baptized 

have no regular commission tor the administering or the bv ttje 
Sacraments, has been a subject of dispute ; people gf^ii- D^senters 
erally determining on one side, or the other, according ^"^^^ ^'Ta 
to their different sentiments of the validity or invalidity ^^^'-^ 
of «^uch disputed baptisms. But 1 think that for deter- 
mining the question before us, there is no occasion to 
enter into the merits of that cause : for whether the 
baptisms among the Dissenters be valicj or not, I do not 
apprehend that it lies upon us to take notice of any bap- 
tistns, except they are to be proved by the Registers of 
the Church, Unless therefore we ourselves betray our 
own rights, by registering spurious among the genuine 
baptisms, persons baptized among the Dissenters can 
have no just claim to the use of this office. For the 
rubric expressly declares, that it is not to be used for 
any that die unbaptized, but all persons are supposed to 
die unbaptized, but those whose baptisms the Registers 
own :* and therefore the Registers not owning dissent- 
ing baptisms, those that die with such baptisms must 1 e 
supposed to die unbaptized.t But indeed the best way 

***The baptisms of English Roman Catholics are not found in our 
regii^ters, yet no one, 1 presume, will naaintain their baptisms to be 
invalid." — Shepherd, 

f Wheatly's conclusion is certainly erroneous and his reasoniner is 
calculated only to mislead ignorance, and provoke discussion. I 
agree with him, that the question may be settled in a more summary 
way, than by entering into an examination of the judement of the 
church of England, concurring the validity of baptism administered 
by dissenters: and I simply appeal to the decisions of our Ecclesiasti- 
cal Courts, since the days of Elisabeth. Are not the prosecutions, 
excommunications, pains, and r . nalti»?8, t© which the presb\ teri^ns 
were subjected so many demonstrations, that our ciiurch holds thena 
to be christians, and admits of cour«e the validity of their bap- 
tism ? To excommunicate himself who has no right to church commun- 
ion would be an absurdity, and he has no right to • omnunioD 
who is not legally baptized. It is no uncommon thing for our 
Bishops to ordain dissenting ministers, who were baptized by dissen- 
ters; for since the year 1661, no one could hold any benefice, or 
be a lawful minister in England, who waa not ordained according; 
to our form. But who ever heard of a Bishop's bapf-zing any of 
these ministers, or of a mnn's being made a priest who had not 
been baptized ?" — Shepherd. 



508 



Of the Order for the Burial of ihe iJeacL 



Chap. XII. 



Secondly, 
to such as 
dieexcom- 
XDunicate. 



Whether 
an ipso 
facto Ex- 
commnni- 
catioa se- 
clude a 
man from 
Christian 
Bnria), be 
fore sen- 
tence is 
pronoun- 



to put an end to this controversy, is to desire those Lliot 
have separate places of worship, to have separate places 
for Burial too ; or at least to be content to put their 
dead into the ground, without requiring the prayers of 
a Minister, whose assistance in every thing but in thit 
and Marriage they neglect and despise. 

II. The next persons, to whom the Church here de- 
nies the office of Burial, are those that die excommuicate ; 
i. e. those who die excommunicated with the greater 
Excommunication^ as it is expressed by the sixty -eighth 
canon. And to such as tji^^e^ Christian Burial has ever 
been denied by the (^atliolic^hurch 57. The intent of 
which penalty is to brifig the Excommunicate to seek 
the absolution and peae^e of the Church, for the health 
of his soul, before he leaves the world; and if not, to 
declare him cut off from the body of Christ, and by 
this mark of infamy to distinguish him frpm an obedi- 
ent and regular Christian. 

§. 2. The learned Mr. Johnson is of opinion '«» that 
persons notorious!}' guilty of ariy of those crimes, for 
which Excommunication ipso facto is decree^ against 
them by the canons of our Church*^, are really excom- 
municated, though they be not particularly by name 
published or declared to be so; and that therefore a 
Minister may refuse to bury them, if the^^ die in this 
condition, and no one be able to testify of thei^ repen- 
tance. To confirm which, he observes from the canon^ 
ists, that it is a sufficient denunciation, if it come to the 
knowledge of the person excommunicated ^° : so that 
the Curate, who ha^ taken care that his parishioners 
who are guilty of those crimes be made sensible that 
they are excommunicated by canon, seems to be under 
no obligation to bury them when they are dead. And 
yet this learned gentleman observes just before*'*, that 
tjhe judges have declared that Excommunication takes 
no effect as to the common law, till it be denounced by 
the Ordinary and Curate of the place where the offender 
lives. He also refers to Lyndwood^^ to show, that if 
the fact be not notorious or evident beyond exception, 



57^ Sjn«p. Ep. 58. p. 2<)3 A. 
Concil ('racar. K Can. 16 torn. 
V. col. 841. E. Decretal. 1.3. Tit. 
39, c. 12. etl. . Tit 53. c. 5. 

58 Sfe CleFgjrraan's Vade Me- 
ciUH, p. 18.T. il ih*' 5th edition. 
;79 See C?inon II, III, IV, V^ VI, 



VII, VIII, IX, XII. 

60 Lyndw. in GIosp. 1. 3. T. 28. 
c. Seouli Principe s v. Excominu- 
nicati. 

61 Ibid. pag. 185. 

62 L. 1. T. 2. Gloss, vers, fir 
nero. 



Of the Order for ike Burial of the Dead. ^9 

;;hen it must be proved, and the sentence passed in the Seat. ^ 
ecclesiastical court, h ore the criminal be taken for ' 
excommunicated in foro Ecchsice, Now certainly be^ 
fore he be taken for excommunicated, he is not to be 
denied Christian Burial, which is treating him as excom* 
municated. It is true, Mr. Johnson is here speaking of 
a case where the fact is not notorious ; but then he goes 
on to prove from the same author", that though the 
fact be notorious, yet the offender must be publicklj de- 
clared excommunicated, before it can be criminal for 
other persons to converse with him. From whence I 
would infer, that so long as he is allowed the conversa- 
tion of Christians, he may also be indulged with a Chris- 
tian Burial. But he farther observes from the same 
place in Lyndwood, that when the fact is notorious, tl>e 
Curate of the parish may denounce the Excommunica- 
tion, without any special order from his superior. If so,, 
then nobody, I suppose, will deny, that, when the Curate 
has denounced it, he is to be refused the use of this office 
of Burial by the injunction of the canon^'*, and the rubric 
before us. But the greatest difficulty is in what he as- 
serts in the following paragraph, viz. That the offender 
is to be deemed excommunicate, before such publication 
is made ; which he founds upon supposition, that if it 
were otherwise, there would be no differencc3 betv\een 
Omstitutio Sententi(B latce^ and Con^-titutio SententicB ferendcB. 
But, with submission to this gentleman, I can conceive a 
difference between these constitutions, without deeming 
an offender excommunicate before publication is made. 
For Constitutio Sententi(E laim may signify, that the crim- 
inal, as soon as ever he is convicted and found guilty 
of the crime alleged against him, incurs the penalty in- 
flicted by the canon, without any farther sentence pro- 
nounced, than a declaration that he actually is, and 
has been under the censure of the said canon : whereas 
Constitutio Sententi(B ferendcB may require not only that 
the criminal should be convicted, but also that after his 
conviction the sentence should be pronounced solemnly 
and in form, notwithstanding the canon may expressly 
declare what the punishment shall be. And this i take 
to be the sense in which Lynwood and other Lawyers 
understand it, whom certainly we must allow to be the 
best judges in the case. And this will explain what 
Mr. jQhnson observes the Canonists say, viz. that Ecc^ 

€3 Lyndw. 1 3. T. 28. vers.finero, 64 Canon LXVIII. 



3^0 Of the Order for the Burial of the Bead. 

Cfeap XU, coinrnnnkalio ipso facto^ is, Excommanicatio facia nulh 
'—■'^—-^ i]ff,i,gf..,riQ Hominis inferveniente ; that an ipso facto Ex- 
cofn/nanication^ is an Excommunication that takes effpct 
without the intervention of any man's ministry. For 
whenever a canon says, that a criminal is ipso facto Ex* 
e'^yimunicated, the Excommunication takes place as soon 
a> he is tried, and found guilty of the crime, without 
a;»y one's pronouncing any other sentence upon him, 
than that, oy virtue of his crime, he is, and has been ex- 
communicated by the canon ; and that not only fro m 
the 'ime that he is proved convict, but from the very 
time that he committed the fault: insomuch that all the 
advantages, penalties, and forfeitures that may be taken 
and demanded of a person excommunicated, may be 
taken and demanded of such a person quite back to the 
time when he r )mmitted the fact, for which he is now 
declared excommunicate. But still, though a criminal 
becomes liable to this censure, from the very instant he 
commits the crime ; yet he cannot legally be proceed- 
ed against, nor treated as excommunicate, before he is 
actually convicted and declared so to be. It is true, 
the canonists suppose that a man jnay and ought to 
shun the company of one, whom he knows to have incur- 
red Excommunication : but private conversation is what 
any one may withhold from whomsoever he pleases, 
and what therefore a man ought to withhold from such 
a one as he knows, or believes, he is able to convict of 
having incurred a greater penalty. But this does not 
affect the question between Mr. Johnson and me. The 
question between us is about denying a man the Sacra- 
ments and public offices of the Church, which the®* can- 
onists assert every man may claim, till it appears le- 
gally that he has forfeited his right to them. And 
therefore (which is the principal point here concerned) 
no man can be refused Christian Burial, however sub- 
ject he may have rendered himself to an ipso facto Ex* 
eommiinication^ unless he has been formally tried and 
convicted, and actually pronounced and declared Ex- 
communicate, and no man is able to testify of his Re- 
pentance. By this clause in the canon indeed ®*. one 
would be apt to imagine, that if any were able to testify 
of his repentance, the man has a right to Christian Bu- 
rial though his sentence was not reversed : and to some 

65 Deer. Par. 2. Cans. 6. Qucest. 66 Canon LXVIIK 
■% c. 3. verb, placuit 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Bead. 511 

feuch testimonies perhaps it might be owing, that since Sect. I. 
the Reformation,' as well as before, commissions have — ^^^^'-^ 
been granted not only to bury persons who died excom- 
municate, but in some cases to absolve them, in order to 
Christian Burial^. But the rubric speaks indefinitely 
of all that die excommunicate, and so seems to include 
all whose sentence was not reversed in their life-time, 
xvithout supposing any benefit to be obtained by an ab- 
solution afterwards. , 

III. The last persons mentioned in the rubric we are Thirdly, to 
discoursing of, are such as have laid violent hands upon sv^^_* '^y 
themselves ; to whom all Christian Churches, as well as har^dsupon 
our own, have ever denied the use of this office^^ And tbemseivts. 
indeed none have been so justly and so universally de- 
prived of that natural right which all men seem to have 
in a grave, as those who break this great law of nature, 
the law of self-preservation. Such as these were forbid 
both by Jews and Heathens to be put under ground, 
that their naked bodies might lie exposed to public view**. 
And the indignity which (if 1 mistake not) our own laws 
enjoin to the bodies of those that murder themselves, vize 
that they shall be buried in the high-way, and have a 
stake drove through them, though it is something more 
modest, yet is not less severe. 

§. 2. This indignity indeed is to be only offered to Wether a 
those who lay violent hands upon themselves, whilst P*^'"^°".,, 
they are of sound sense and mind ; for they who are {,i^*st,|f 
deprived of reason or understanding cannot contract beinu Non 
any guilt, and therefore it would be unreasonable to in- Compos 
flict upon them any penalty* But then it may be ques- ^^'J*'^e^^ 
tioned, whether even these are not exempted from hav- by this 
ing this office said over them 5 since neither the rubric rubric;* 
nor our old ecclesiastical laws^* make any exception in 
favour of those who may kill themselves in distraction, 
and since the office is in several parts of it improper for 
such a case. As to the Coroner's warrant, I take that 
to be no more than a certificate that the body is not de- 
manded by the law, and therefore the relations may 
dispose of it as they please. For 1 cannot apprehend 

67 See Biehop Gibson's Codex, 69 Joseph. Bell Judaic. 1. 3. c. 
Tit. 23. cap. 2. pag. 640. 14. Plin. Nat. Hist. I. 36. c. 15. 

68 Vide Concii. Bracar.l. Can. Aul. Gel. Noct. Attic. 1. 16. c. 
16. ut supra, L. L. Edgardi, c.l5, 10. Servius in ^ocid. 12. 

in Can. de mode imponendi Poe- 70 See Mr. Johnson, A. 1). 740, 
nitentiam, CoDCil. torn. ix. cok 96. in the C. C. C. C. MS. an4 
090. B. 963. 24.^ 



512 Of the Order fur the Burial of the DmS, 

Cbsp. Xil. that a Coroner is to determine the sense of a rubric, or 

— ' to prescribe to the Minister when Chri.stian Burial is to 

be used. The scandalous practice of them and their 
inquests ; notwithstanding the strictness of their oath, iii 
ahiiost constantly retufning every one they sit upon to 
be JVoM Compos MmtU. (though the very circumstance?; 
of their murdering themselves are fr^^qut ntly a proof of 
the soundness of their senses,) sufficiently show how 
much their verdict is to be depended on. It is not very 
difficult indeed td accoufit for this: wt need only to be 
informed, that if a man he found Felo de 5p, all he was 
possessed of devolves to the King, to be di.->posed of by 
the Lord Almoner, according to his discretion: and no 
fee being allowed out of ihis to the Coroner, it is no 
■W'onder that the verdict is generally for the heirs, front 
whom a gratuity is seldom wanting. They plead in- 
deed, thait it is hard to give away the subsistence of a 
family : but these gentlemen should remember, that they 
are not sworn to be charitable, but to be just ; that their 
business is to inquire not what is convenient and proper 
to be done with that which is forfeited, but how the per- 
son came by his death ; whether by another or himself; 
if by himself whether he was Pdo de 5e, or J^on Compor, 
Mentis. As the Coroner indeed summons whom he 
pleases on the Jury, and then delivers to them what 
charge he pleases^ it is easy enough for him to influence 
their judgments, and to instil a general supposition, that 
a self-murderer must needs be mad, since no one would 
kill himself, unless he were out of his senses. But the 
Jury should consider, that if the case were so, it would 
be to no purpose for the law to appoint so formal an in- 
<5[uiry. For, according to this supposition, such inquiry 
rnust be vain and impertinent, since the fact itself would 
be evidence sufficient. It is true indeed, there may be 
a moral madness, i* e, a misapplication of the under- 
standing, in all self-murderers : but this sort of madness 
does not come under the cognizance of a Jury; the 
question with them being, not whether the understand- 
ing was misapplied, but whether there was any under- 
standing at all. In short, the best rule for a Jury to 
guide themselves by in such a case, is to judge whether 
the signs of madness, that are now pretended, would 
avail to acquit the same person of murdering another 
man : if not, there is no reason why they should be urg- 
ed as a plea for acquittmg him of murdering himBclf* 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead* 513 

But this is a little wide from my subject: however, it ^^^*- ^^' 
may be of use to show, what little heed is to be given to ~ 
a Coroner's warrant, and that there is no reason, be- 
cause a Coroner prostitutes his oath, that the Clergy 
should be so complaisant as to prostitute their office.* 

Sect. II. Of the second Rubric. 

BEFORE the Burial a short Peal is to be rung^S to ^JP^^^^"^ 
give the relations and neighbours nocice of the time, and beforeihe 
to call them t6 pay their last attendance to their deceas- Burial, 
ed friend. 

§. 2. The T'lme generally appointed for this is late in The Time 
the Evenings from whence the Bearers had the name of ^o''^"^^" 
Vespillones. And as Death is a Sleeps and the Grave a ^^^^ 
Resting Place^ the J^ight is not improper for these solem- 
nities. The primitive Christians indeed, by reason of 
their persecutions, were obliged to bury their Dead in the 
night : but when afterwards they were delivered from 
these apprehensions, they -oolnniarily retained their old 
custom; only making use oi lighted Torches^ (which we 
still continue,) as well, I suppose for convenience, as to 
express their hope of the departed's being gone into the 
regions of light^^ 

§. 3. The friends and relations being assembled to- The man- 
gether, the body is brought forth, and in some places is p^'' *^^!*^* 
still, as anciently it was every where, laid upon the '*^^^*"°"' 

*" Mr. Wheatlj should have recollec(e<I, (hat the coroner with his 
inquest, and not the minister, i? to judge whether the party deceased 
was out of his senses. The nr.inister here has no authority whatever. 
He cannot be impannelled on a jury, and he has no right to be present 
:it the inspection of the body. He can neither summon witnesses, 
nor examine them. He is neither entitled, nor able to form any judg- 
ment at all. Whatever private opinion he may entertain, that must 
be founded either on hearsay, or conjecture, and it is not justifiable 
to act upon such an opinion, in contradiction fo the public decision 
of a jury, after hearing the deposition of witnesses delivered upon 
oath. The minister's sole business is to inter the corps, and for so 
doing" the Coroner's certiflcate is his warrant. After the Coroner's 
warrant certifying the minister that the body may lawfully be buried, 
ia delivered, he is not at Hberty, either * to rtfnse or to delay to bury it.' 
The verdict of the jury may indeed be traversed, but the olerf^yman 
of the parish, in which the person died, is so far compellible to bury 
the corpse, that the law would severely punish his refusal." — Shepherd. 

71 Canon LXVII. Greg. Nys«. in Vit. S. Macrinae in 

72 Cbrys. Horn. 4. in Hebr.tom. Append, pag. 201. B. Hieron.Ep. 
ir. p, 453. lin. 34. et Horn. 116. 27. de Pawla, c. 13. 

Rrt 



514 Of the Order for ike Burial of the Lead. 

Ciiap XII. shoulders of some of the most intimate friends of the 
deceased ^^: though there have generally been some 
particular Bearers appointed for this office, who were 
called by the Greeks KoTnavrei^ or KoTtxroii ^^, and 
Vespillones by ihe Latins, for the reasons before named. 
The Body being in readiness, and moved towards the 
Church, the chief Mourners first, and then all the com- 
pany follow it in order, intimating, that all of them 
must shortly follow their deceased friend in the same 
path of Dearth ^^* 
Rosemary, §- 4. But to express their hopes that their friend is 
why given not lost for ever, each person in the company usually 
at Fune- bears in his hand a sprig o^ Rosemary : a custom which 
seems to have taken its rise from a practice among the 
Heathens, of a quite different import. For they having 
no thoughts of a future Resurrection, but believing that 
the bodies of those that were deadwould forever lie in the 
grave, made use of Cypress at their Funerals, which is a 
tree, that being once cut never revives, but dies away''^. 
But Christians, on the other side, having better hopes, 
and knowing that this very body of their friend., which 
they are now going solemnly to commit to the grave, shall 
one day rise again, and be reunited to his soul, instead 
of Cypress, distribute Rosemary to the company, which 
(being always green, and flourishing the more for being 
cropt, and of which a sprig only being set in the ground, 
will sprout up immediately, and branch into a tree) is 
more proper to express this confidence andtrust"^^; a 
custom not unlike that practised by the Jews, who, as 
they went with a corps to the grave, plucked up every 
one a handful of grass, to denote that their brother war> 
but so cropt off, and should again spring up in his pro- 
per season ^*. 
Th p ' *t §• ^* ^'^^ Corpse having been brought in this manner 
and Clerks or procession to the entrance of the Church-yard, or to 
tonjeetihe the Church'Stile, (as it was expressed in King Edward''s 
Corpse at ^^.^^ book.) the Priest in his Surplice'^^, and the Clerks. 

the en- '' •* ' 

trance of ^, ^^_^^^ j^-^^^ ^^^^^ 20. torn. iEneid.3. v. 70. See also Kenneths 

JV,^ i. p. 371. C. Greg. N)'s?. et Hie- Roman Antiquities, page 343. 

OhurcU- ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ 7jr i)„i.ancl. Rational. Divin. 

yard. ^^ p^j^^ ^^ Antiochen. Ignat, Offic. 1. 7. c 35. num. 38. fol. 457. 

adscripla, p. bS Edit.Voss. Lond. 78 See Mr. Gregory's Sermon 

16t.C>. Ep:()han. Corapcnd, Doctr, on the Resurrection, among his 

Fid.Catliol. Posthumous Works, p. 70. and 

73 Enclol. Grsec. perGoar. p. Leo Mod ena's Rites of the present 

526. Alex, ab Alex. 1. 3. c. 7. Do- Jews, published bj Mr. Ocklej, 

iiat. in Terent. Andr. Act. 1. page 228. 

Seen. 1 p. 20. 79 See Chap. II. Sect. IV. p. 

76 Plin. 1. 16. c. 33. et Serve, in 100. 



Of the Order for ihe Burial of the Bead. 615 

•f whom I have spoken before^" are ordered by the Sect, h 

rubric there to me€/ 1/ : so that the attendance of the-- 

Minister at the house of the deceased, and his accom- 
panying it all the way from thence, is a mere vokintary 
respect, which he is at liberty to pay or refuse as he 
pleases. For, as it was expressed in the Injunctions of 
King Edward Vf. Forasmuch as Priests be public Min- 
isters of the Church, and upon the Holy-days ought to ap- 
ply themselves to the common administration of the whole 
Parish ; they are not bound to go to Women lying in Child- 
bed, except in time of dangerous Sickness, and not to fetch 
any corse before it be brought to ihe Church yard ^^, And 
so by our present canons ^^ ihe Corpse must be brought 
to the Church or Church-yard, and convenient warning 
too must be given the Minister beforehand, or else there is 
no penalty lies upon him for either delaying or refusing 
to bury it. 

§. 6. But the Corpse being capable of Christian And to go 
Burial, and having been brought in due form, and after ^eforeit 
due notice given, to the entrance of theChurch-yard ; there church or 
the Minister must meet it^^, and, as the present rubric Grave, 
farther directs, go before it either into the Church, or towards 
the Grave ; u e. (if I rightly understand the words) if 
the Corpse be to be buried within the Church, he shall 
go directly thither; but if in the Church-yard, he may 
first go to the Grave^"* : for now, according to the gen- 
eral custom, every one is at liberty to be buried in which 
he pleases. 

And indeed all nations whatsoever, Jews, Heathens, j^ , . 
and Christians, have ever had solemn places set apart places the 
for this use ; but in permitting their Dead to be buried Dead were 
either in or near their places of worship, the Christians ?'^^\° ^^ 
differ from both the former. For tne Jews, being forbid 
to touch or come near any dead body, and it being de- 
clared that they who did so were defiled, had always 
their sepulchres without the city ^* ; and from them it is 
probable the Greeks and Romans derived, not only 
the notion of being polluted by a dead Corpse, but the 
law also of burying without the wall ^^ For this reason 
the Christians, so long as the law was in force through- 
out the Roman Empire, were obliged, in compliance 

80 See page 162. three Months. SeeCanon LXVIIL 

81 Bp. Sparrow's Collection, 84 See more of this below in. 
p. II. Sect IV. 

82 See Canon LXVIII. 85 See Luke vii. 12. 

83 Under pain of Suspension 86 LL. 12. Tabul. nt in Alex. 
from his Ministrj hy the space of ab Alex. 1. 3. c. 2. 



516 Oflhe Order for the Burial of ike Dead. 

Chap. XII. ^ith it, to bury their Dead without the gates of the city *'': 
" a custom which prevailed here in England till about the 
middle of the eighth century, when Archbishop Cuth- 
bert of Canterbury obtained a dispensation from the 
Pope for making Church-j^ards within the walls^^ How- 
ever, that the Christians did not do this out of any be- 
lief that the body of a dead Christian defiled the place 
or persons near it, may be inferred from their consecrat- 
ing their old places of Burial into places of divine V/or- 
ship, and by building their Churches, as soon as they 
had liberty, over some or other of the Martyrs' Graves ®^ 
After Churches were built indeed, they suffered no bo- 
dy to be buried in them ; but had distinct places con- 
tiguous to them appropriated to this use, which, from 
the metaphor of Sleep, by which Death in Scripture is 
often described, were called Kcifmr^piet, i. e. Ccsmefe- 
ries or Sleeping- Places. The first that we read of, as 
buried any where else, was Constantino the Great, to 
whom it was indulged, as a singular honour, to be buri- 
ed in the Church Porch^^. Nor were any of the Eastern 
Emperors, for several centuries afterwards, admitted to 
be buried any nearer to the church : for several canons 
had been made against allowing of this to any person of 
what dignity soever ^^: and even in our own Church we 
find, that in the end of the seventh century, an Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury had not been buried within the 
churchy but that the porch was full with six of his pre- 
decessors that had been buried there before ^\ By a 
canon made in King Edgar's reign, about the middle of 
the tenth century, "no man was allowed to be buried 
in the church, unless it were known that he had so pleas - 
ed God in his life-time, as to be worthy of such a bury- 
ing-place^^ :*' though above a hundred years afterwards 
we meet with another canon, made at a council at Win- 
chester, that seems again to prohibit all Corpses what- 
soever, without any exception, from being buried in 
churches °''. But in later times, every one, that could 

87 Euseb. Hi?t. Eacl. 1. lO-Vide 91 ( 'oncil. Bracar. Can 18. torn. 

ct Iiaron. Anna), torn. ii. ad Ann. v, col. i42. Concil. Nannetens. 

130. c, 6. et Concil. 'iVibur. Can. 17. 

88 See Godwin's Life of Cuth- 92 See Bp. Godwin's Life of 
bert. Theodore Archbiihop of Canfer- 

89 Chrys.tom. T. Horn. 3. bury. 

90 Chrys.Hom. 26.in 2 Cor.tom. 93 Mr. Johnson's Laws,960,29. 
ill. pag. 687, Callisth. Hist. Eccl. 94 Ibid. 1071, 9. 

L U. c. 58. tom, >i. pag. 5S2. B- 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 517 

pay for the honour, has been generally allowed it : but Sect, m, 
since all cannot purchase it, nor the churches contain 
all, there is a necessity of providing some other conven- 
iences for this use. And this has generally been done, 
as i observed before, by inclosing some of the ground 
round the Church, for a Burjing-place or Church-yard : 
that so, as the faithful are going to the house of prayer, 
they may be brought to a fit temper and disposi- 
tion of mind, by a prospect of the graves and monuments 
of their friends: nothing being more apt to raise our 
devotion, than serious thoughts upon Death and Mor- 
tality. I need not say now whether the Church or 
Church-yard be the most ancient and proper place for 
burial; nor have I any thing left to say farther on this 
head, than that in whichever the Grave is, the Priest is 
to go before^ and to lead the company thither, and to 
conduct, and introduce, as it were, the corpse of the de- 
iCeased into its house of rest. 

Sect. III. Of the Sentences to he used in going to the 
Church, or the Grave, 

Since the following a dear and beloved friend to the P® *^^' 

• T6I1C6S 

grave must naturally raise in us some melancholy and 
concern, the Church calls in the aids of religion to raise 
and cheer our dejected hearts. It was with this design 
that pious antiquity carried out their dead with hymns 
of triumph, as conquerors that had gloriously finished 
their course, and were now going to receive their crown 
of victory^^ To this end again were those Hallelujahs 
sung of old, as they went to the grave^®: a custom still 
retained in many parts of this nation, where they divert 
the grief of the friends and mourners, by singing Psalms 
from the house to the very entrance of the Charch-yard, 
And here the holy man comes forth to meet us, and im- 
mediately salutes us with the Gospel of Peace. And in- 
deed whither should we go for consolations on this occa- 
sion, but to that storehouse of comfort, which is furnish- 
ed with remedies for every grief? 

I. He begins with the words which were spoken at John xi, 
first by the blessed Jksos, as he was going towards the 25, 26. 
grave of a beloved friend, with intent to comfort a pious 



95 Chrys. Horn. 4, in Ed. ad 96 Hieron. ad Eastoch. Ep. 27. 
tebr. ■ et ad Oceaiiom, Ep. 30, 



^^J^ap^ll. 518 ojf^g Order for the Burial of the Dead. 

mourner; words so proper to the occasion, that they 
have been used in the Burial-Office of almost all 
churches whatever ^^ . Poor Martha's affection and 
sorrow for her brother had almost swallowed up her 
faith in Jesus, and it is not unusual for the same passions 
still to prevail to the same excessive degree: but our 
Lord here comforts both her and us, by reminding us 
of his omnipotence, and absolute power to raise the 
Dead, and restore them to life, as well in a natural as a 
spiritual sense. If then we can recover but the exer- 
cise of our faith, we shall be much more at ease ; as re- 
'Job xix. membering that the soul of our departed friend, though 
25, 26, 27. parted from his body, is still alive, and that even his 
corpse, which we follow, shall live again as soon as ever 
Christ shall call it. 

II. As a noble example of the exercise of that faith, 
which the feregoing sentence was designed to raise in 
us, Job is proposed to us in this that follows. And sure- 
ly if he, who lived among the Gentiles so long before 
the revelation of Christianity, could sustain his spirit 
with the hopes of a Resurrection ; it will be no small 
reproach to us, who have fuller and better assurances 
of it, to be slower in our belief of this article than he. 
The old translation of these verses in Job, (which was 
retained in our office till the last review, when from the 
Scotch Liturgy it was changed for the new one,) as it 
was more agreeable to the ancient versions and the 
sense of the fathers, so was it more applicable to the 
present occasion. The words, as they stood then, ran 
as follow: 1 know that my Redeemer liveth^ and that I 
shall rise out of the earth in the last day^ and shall he 
covered again with my skin^ and shall see God in my flesh ; 
yea, and I myself shall behold him, not with other, but with 
these same eyes. Thus the fathers read it, and accord- 
ingly explained it of a particular Resurrection of this 
very bodj'^^ And in this sense it is an admirable con- 
solation to all that mourn for the loss of friends, viz. to 
believe with holy Job, that the same person we are now 
laying in the earth, there to crumble and moulder into 
dust, shall in due time, by the power of God, arise from 
his grave, and live again. We lose indeed the sight of 
him for a season, but we know that Jesus our Redeemer liv- 

9r Aui". Verb. Apost.Serm.35. 98 Chrys. et Hieron. in loc. 
Durand. Ratioual. J. 7. c 35. Aug. de Civ. Dei, 22, 29, et SeriD. 
Eueboloj. Office. Exequ.pag.52r. S.deNat. Dem. 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead, 51 S 

tth, who will in due time raise us all from the dust, when Sect. IK. 
both our frirnd and we shall all behold him, and even '" — ' — 
know and distinguish each other again with these very 
eyes. 

III. The next grace to be exercised at this time is Pa- j Tim. v. 
iience, which, upon these occasions, is often violently 7. and 
assaulted by worldly considerations: for when we re- Jo*>' *' ^^ 
fleet on our own loss, in being deprived of a friend ; or 
descend lower, to reflect upon the comforts of the 
world which he hath left behind him, our passions are 
apt to overflow. But here a third sentence comes in to 
allay both these griefs. We have lost perhaps a tender, 
dear, and useful friend : but what then ? we brought 
no friends with us into the world, nor can we carry 
them out from hence. They were given us by God, 
who can raise up others in their stead ; and they are 
taken away by him, to wean our affections from any 
thing here. We should therefore rather bless the giver 
for the time we have enjoyed them, than murmur at his 
taking them, after he has lent them us so long. 

Again, as to our friend, it is true, he is going naked to 
the grave : but alas! he goes no otherwise than he 
came : for (saith the wise man') as he came forth of his 
mother^s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and 
shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry 
away in his hand^^. He shall carry nothing away with 
him (saith the Psalmist) when he dieih, neither shall his 
pomp follow him ^ . Whatever he had, or possessed 
Jiere, was only useful to him so long as he stayed : where 
is the misfortune then, if, upon removing from hence, 
he leaves that behind him, which will be of no service 
to him in the place he is going to ? Whilst he was en- 
gaged on this stage of the world, God furnished him 
with a habit suitable to the part which he expected him 
to perform : shall any of us therefore think it strange, 
that the actor is undressed when his part is done ? In a 
word, let us consider ourselves under what character we 
please, there is still the same reason to join with 
the holy penmen in these noble reflections; We brought 
nothing into this loorld, and it is certain we can carry noth^ 
ing out; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
hlessed be the name of the Lord, 



99 Ee9l V. fSf I Psalm xlix. ir. 



520 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead* 

Ohap. XII. 

Sect. IV. Of the Psalms and Lesson. 

PsaTms al- THOUGH joy, at the first glance, may seem unsuit- 
wajs used able to a Funeral Solemnity; yet upon due refloction 
S!in^*une- ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ of another opinion. The wiser sort of Hea- 
rais. thens bury their Dead with expressions of joy, la- 

menting themselves for staying behind, whilst their 
friend is gone to be immortalized abov^*. And that 
Hymns and Psalms were always used upon the like oc- 
casions by the primitive Christians, is abundantly testi- 
fied by the ancient writers". In the Greek Church the 
order is much the same as in ours, v^z, that when they 
come into the Churchy the body shall be set down in the lower 
end thereof and then ihey shall begin the ninetieth Psalm"^. 
This, together with the thirty-ninth, are what our own 
Church uses on this occasion ; both which will appear, 
upon a little reflection, to be exactly agreeable to this 
solemnity.* 
Peal. §. 1. The thirty-ninth Psalm is supposed to have 

xxxix. been composed by David, upon Joab's reproaching him 
for his public grief for Absalom's death ; and is of use 
in this place, to direct and comfort those that mourn, to 
check all loud and unseemly complaints, and to turn 
them into prayers and devout meditations. 
Psal. xc. §. 2. The other was composed by Moses in the wil- 
derness, upon the death of that vast multitude, who, for 
their murmuring and infidelity, were sentenced to leave 
their carcases in the wilderness ; and who accordingly 
wasted by little and little before they came into the land 
of Canaan. Upon this the prophet breaks forth into 
these religious meditations, not accusing the divine prov- 
idence, but applying all to the best advantage ; show* .g 
us withal what thoughts we should entertain, when we 
have the prospect of a Funeral before our eyes ; viz. 

2 Porphyr, de Abst. 1. 4. 5. 18. Chrys. Ep, iv. in Ep. ad Hebr- 

Poljdor. Virg. de Invent. 1. 6. c. Anton, in Fun. Paul. Erem. apud 

10. Hieron. 

S Hieron. dc Morte Fabioloe. 4 Eucholog. Offic. Exeq. 526. 

♦ The English rubrick provides (hat ona or both of these psalms phall 
be read ; in the American office the first, fourth, tenth and eleventh 
rerses of Psalm 39tb, and the eleventh and last five verses of Psalm 90th 
are omitted as being less suitable and the whole being thrown into one 
Anthem, the rubric runs as follows: " After they are come into ihe 
Church ehall be mid or aung (he following Authem taken from the 
39th and 90th psalms." -../2m, Ed^ 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Lead. 5fil 

that we should reflect upon, and consider our own lot, Sect.lV* 

and endeavour to apply the instance of mortality now -• ^^ 

before us, to the bettering and improving our own con- 
dition. 

In the first book of King Edward, instead of the 
Psalms, of which we have now been speaking, there were 
three others appointed, viz, the cxvith. ihe cxxxixth, 
and cxlvith. And when they were left out at the next 
review, there were no other whatever ordained in the 
room of them, till these were inserted at King Charles's 
Restoration. 

II. After the Psalms out of the Old Testament, fol- The Less- 
lows the proper Lesson out of the New : for since the ^^' 
faith of the Resurrection is not only the principal arti- 
cle of a Christian''s belief, but also the article which 
chiefly concerns us on this occasion, Cas well to allay 
our sorrow for the party deceased, as to prepare us 
freely to follow him when God shall call us ;) therefore 
the Church has chosen here the fullest account of the 
Resurrection of theDead that the whole Scripture affords; 
that article being here so strongly proved, so plainly 
described, and so pertinently applied, that nothing 
could have been more suitable to the present purpose ; 
for which reason we find it has always been used in this 
office of the Church*. 

§. 2. The Psalms and Lessdn in King Edward's first Prayers for 
Liturgy are followed by some other suff'rages (which I *^® ^^t^' 
have printed in the margin*) in behalf of the deceased ; sense used 

in King 
^'-■— -——-—• "" * "' ■ " Edward's 

* The Lesson ended^ then shall the Priest say, Piayere 

Lord have mercy upon us. 
Christ have mercy upon us. 
Lord have mercy upon us. 
Our Father, which art in heaven, ^C: 
And lead us not into Temptation. 
Answer. 
But deliver us from evil. Amen. 

Priest. 
Enter not (O Lord) into Judgment with thy Servant 
Answ. For in thy sight no living creature shall hejustified* 
Priest. From the gates of Hell, 
Answ. Deliver their ^cmh, O Lord. 



5 Durand. Rational. 1. 7, c, 35. Man. Sarisb. fol. 107, 



522 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 

Chap. XII. [iQ^ far^ and in what sense, Prayers for the Dead were 
" used by the primitive Church, I have already had occa- 
sion to show'"'. And how different the prayers for de- 
parted souls, in our first Common Prayer Books, were 
from those which the Church of Rome makes use of, 
and how inconsistent with their doctrine of Purgatory, 
may be gathered from the paragraph which 1 there 
transcribed out of the old prayer for the whole state 
of ChrisCs Church ; and will farther appear from this 
prayer in the Burial-Office, which I have here insert- 
ed, as well as from others which I shall have occasion to 
transcribe by and by. All therefore I shall say in 
reference to them here, shall be only to note once for 
all, that whatever in that book related directly and im- 
mediately to the Dead was all thrown out of the second 
Liturgy, at the instance of Calvin and his old friend 
Bucer. There was one clause indeed permitted to 
stand till the last review, viz. in the prayer that imme- 
diately follows the Lord's Prayer, in which, till then. 



Priest. / believe to see the goodness of the Lord^ 

Answ. In the land of the living. 

Priest. O Lord^ graciously hear my prayer^ 

Answ. Jind let my cry come unto thee. 
Let us pray. 
O Lord^ with whom do live the spirits of them that he dead / 
and in whom the souls of them that be elected^ after they be 
delivered from the burden of the flesh,, be in joy and felicity : 
Grant unto this thy servant^ that the sins which he hath com- 
mitted in this world be not imputed unto him, but that he, es- 
caping the gates of hell, and pains of eternal darkness, may 
ever dwell in the regions of light, with Abraham, Isaac ^ and 
Jacob, in the place where there is no weeping, sorrow, nor 
heaviness : and when that dreadfid day of the general Re- 
surrection shall come, make him to rise also with the just and 
righteous ; and receive this body again to glory^ then made 
pure and incorruptible : set him on the right hand of thy Son 
Jesus Christ, among thy holy and elect, that then he may hear 
with them these most sweet and comfortable words : Come to 
mc, ye blessed of my Father^ possess the kingdom which hath 
been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Grant 
this, we beseech thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ 
our Mediator and Redeemer. Ame7i. 



G See Chap. VI. Sect. ^^I. page 285. 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 523 

we prayed, that we with this our brother, and all Sect. HI. 

other departed in the true faith of God's holy name, might ' 

have our perfeiA consummation and bliss, <S^c, Nor did the 
Presbyterians at the Savoy Conference make any other 
objection against this clause, than what they did in gen- 
eral against all that expressed any assurance of the de- 
ceased party's happiness which they did not think pro- 
per to be said indifferently over all that died^* How- 
ever, upon the review of tl^e Common Prayer afterwards, 
these words were left out. Not but that the sentence, 
as it is still left standing, may well enough be understood 
to imply the Dead as well as the Living ; for we pray 
(as it is now) that we, with all those that are departed in 
the true faith of God^s holy name, may have our perfect con- 
summation and bliss ; which is not barely a supposition, 
that all those, who are so departed, will have their per- 
fect consummation and bliss ; but a prayer also that they 
may have it, viz, that we with them, and they with us, may 
be made perfect together, both in body and soul, in the 
eternal and everlasting glory of God. For " though 
" (saith Bishop Cosin upon this very prayer) the souls of 
" the faithful be in joy and felicity ; yet because they 
^*are not in such a degree of that joy and felicity, as that 
" they can never receive no more than they have already; 
" therefore in the latter part here of this our prayer, 
" we beseech God to give them a full and perfect consum- 
" mation of bliss both in body and soul, in his eternal king- 
" dom of glory, which is yet to come. And whatsoever 
*• the effect and fruit of this prayer will be, though it be 
*' uncertain ; yet hereby we show that charity which 
" we owe to all those that are fellow-servants with us to 
" Christ : and in this regard our prayers cannot be con- 
" demned, being neither impious nor unfit for those that 
" profess the Christian religion. For in like manner, if 
" I should make a prayer to God for my father or moth- 
" er, for my brother or sister, for my son or daughter, 
" or any other friend of mine who were travelling in a 
"journey, beseeching him that he would prosper them 
" in their way, and keep them from all danger and sick- 
" ness, till they should safely and happily arrive at 
" their journey's end, and the place where they desire 
" to be ; although at the same time, when I prayed this 
*' for them, peradventure they be arrived at the place 
" already (which I knew not) with all safety, and met 

7 See their Exceptions against 31, 4to. 1661. or in Baxter's Nar- 
the Book of Common Prayer, page ratiye of his own Life, page 332. 



524 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead, 

Ghap. XII. " with no danger or diseases by tiie way, whereby all 

" ' ^' my prayer is prevented ; yet the solicitude and chari- 

" ty, in the mean while, that I had for them, cannot be 
*' justly or charitably reprehended by any others*." 
Much to the same purpose just before: "• Although (saith 
" he) it cannot be exactly and distinctly (Jeclared what 
*' benefit the Dead receive by these prayers which the 
" Living make for them ; yet if there be nothing else, 
" there is this at least in it, that hereby is declared the 
" communion and conjunction which we have still with 
*' one another, as members of the same body whereof 
*^ Christ is the headV So also before him Bishop 
Overal, in his notes upon this same place : ^ The Puri- 
" tans (saith he) think that here is prayer for the Dead 
" allowed and practised by the Church of England; 
" and so think I ; but we are not both in one minfl for 
" censuring the Church for so doing. They say it is 
" popish and superstitious ; 1 for my part esteem it pious 
" and christian. The body lies dead in the grave, but 
*^ by Christ's power and God's goodness shall men be 
" raised up again : and the benefit is so great, that sure 
" it is worth the praying for : because then we may 
"pray for what we ourselves or our deceased brethren. 
" as yet have not, therefore doth the Church pray for 
" the perfect consummation of bliss both in soul and bodt/y 
'' to be given to our brethren departed. We believe 
" the Ilesurrection ^ yet may pray for it as we do for 
" God^s Kingdom to come* Besides, prayer for the Dead 
" cannot be denied but to have been universally used of 
" all Christians in the ancientest and purest times of the 
" Church, and by the Greek lathers, who never admit- 
" ted any Purgatory, no more than we do, and yet pray 
" for the Dead notwithstanding. What though their 
*' souls be in bliss already ? they may have a greater 
*' degree of bliss by our prayers: and when their bodies 
^' come to be raised , and joined to their souls again, 
" they shall be sure of a better state Our prayers for 
" them then will not be in vain, were it but for that 
^ alone^V But to return. 
The §. 3. By the first Common Prayer, both the Psalms 

Fsalnasand j^jjd Lesson, with the suffrages above mentioned, were ia 

Lesson, -T. , . . o 7 

whsthcr 

eyer to be 3 See the additional Notes to 9 See the additional Notes to 

•milted. Dr, Nichols on the Common Pray- Dr. Nichols on the Comm. Prayer, 

^^ er, page 615, p. 64. 

10 Ibid. 



Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 525 

he said in the church either before or after the Burial of the Sect. 1\^. 
Corpse. But from that time to the Restoration of King - 
Charles, the Lesson (for I have observed during all that 
time there were no Psalms) was appointed to be read 
wherever the grave was, whether in the church, or 
church-yard, immediately after the sentence taken out 
of the Revelation. But the Presbyterians objecting, 
that this exposed both Minister and People to many in- 
conveniences, by standing in the air ^\ there was a ru- 
bric added at the last review, which orders, that the 
Psalms and Lesson shall be said, after they come into the 
church : so that now, I suppose, it is again left to the 
Minister's discretion (as it was ip the rubric of the first 
book of King Edward) whether he will read them be- 
fore or after the Burial of the Corpse. For the second 
rubric at the beginning of the office permits him to go 
to the Church or to the Grave, i. e. to either of them di- 
rectly, which he pleases : nor is there any farther direc- 
tion, that if he goes into the Church, it shall be before 
he goes to the grave: but only that after they are come 
into the Church, one or both of the Psalms shall be read 
with the Lesson that follows ; and when they come to the 
Grave, the rest of the devotions that are to be used. 

I know some are of opinion, that the design of the ru- 
brics, as they are w.>rded now, is to give liberty to the 
Minister to go immediately to the Grave, and so wholly 
to omit the Lesson and Psalms : but if that were the design 
of them, one would have expected some hint, that they 
might be omitted ; whereas the expression in the rubric 
after they are come into the Church seems to suppose that 
either first or last they will come thither. I am therefore 
rather inclined to think, that the meaning of leaving the 
rubric, so dubious is, that if the Minister go directly 
into the Church, the Grave being there, he should use the 
Psalms and Lesson before the Burial: but if the Grave 
be without the Church, he may first go thither to bury 
the Corpse, and then afterwards, to prevent any incon- 
veniency from the air, proceed to the Church itself, to 
read the Psalms and Lesson, according to the rubric in 
the first Common Prayer. For 1 do not know any in- 
stance in the whole Liturgy besides, where the Minister 
is at liberty t» leave out so considerable a part of an 
office, when it is so proper to be used. But I only give 
this as my private opinion : for I know it belongs to ^ 

11 See i;xceptioDs as before. 



526 Oftht Order for the Burial of the Dead, 

©hap. XII. much higher authority to appease diversity^ and to resolve 
"doubts concerning the manner how to understand^ do^ and 
execute, the things contained in this book^^.* 

12 See the Preface «oncerniog the Service of the Church. 

♦ '* It must be admitted, I think, that the clergyman is required to 
perform the entire offict, sine, there is not the least intimation in the 
book, that any pari of it may be dispensed with. To omit the Psalms 
and the Lesson, is to omit more than one half of the whole, which it 
is not pretend«-d that a mmister may do in any other instance. Hence 
I conclude, that the minister may %<> first to the grave and then to the 
church, or r ec versa, as his di.-cretion may direct, but he must per- 
form the service to be used at the grave, and that to be said in the 
church, at the plctces where they are respectively appointed to be 
performed : That is, the Psalm and le«son n-ay be said, *' eit>^ be- 
fore, or after the burial of the Corpse,*' as it is expressly stated in 
Ed ward's first Book. 

*' To those that still think the Psalm and Lesson may be omitted, 
I have further to observe that to omit the service at the grave, is as 
reasonable in itself, and exactly as ag'r'^eable to the regulations of our 
church. Whatever argument can be broii?:ht to prove, that the 
minister may refuse to read the service appointed to be used in the 
church, will equally prove, that he may refuse to perform, what he is 
directed to perform at the grave. 

" Again, though it is not expressly stated in the Rubric, yet it is 
understood by the Church, and ought to be explained to the people, 
that • the prayers and exhortations in the Burial ofhce are not for the 
benefit of the dead, but for the instruction and comfort of the living.' 
"Whetner the Psalm and Lesson be read before or after the interment ; 
whether the corpse is or is not taken into the church, are in their 
own nature matters of indiflTerence ; and so the church has left them. 
Still the Psalms and the Lesson are so exceedingly proper for the oc- 
casion, that I ,)resume few clergymen would be disposed to omit 
them, even if they had, what in this instance they have not, a discre- 
tionary power. 

" When the rubrics were formed, there was a reason for the minis- 
ters going to the grave in the first place, which does not at present 
exist. It was then in some places not uncommon to bury the poorer 
people without a ccffia, the body being wrapped in some thick ooarse 
clothing. On such occasions there might be an obvious reason for 
not admittinw: the corpse to be brought into the church. And even 
at present, where the deceased may have died of the small pox, or 
any other infectious dis^-ase, or when the bo ly is putrid, or otherwise 
offensive, the aiini.>*ter for the sake ol the ^J^<a!th of the company at- 
tending the funeral, as well as on ar.count oi ihe con^regatioa who 
may assemble the same, or the following da^, would not I co 'ceive 
exercise his discretion improperly, if he should go first to the grave, 
and then into the chwc\u''^—iihepherd. 

As the rubrics on the subject of goiug- into the church or to the 
grave are substantially the same in the Araeri an, as in the English of- 
fice, it seemed proper to Jay before the reader ■^^e sentiment* of so emi- 
nent a ritualist as Shepherd ; and it will be seen that he agrees with 
Wheady in opinion that the part of the Burial service to be used ia 
the Church should never he omitted. Bishop Mant has insprted in 
his Commentary copious extracts Irom Wheatly and Shepherd on this 
poiiit, without any additional remarks ; whence it is to be inferred 
that he approves their oo'-^' -^ ^ '8 equahy proper however to re- 



(•/ (he Oritr for the Burial of the Dead. 527 

Sect. V. 

Sect. V. Of iht Devotions and Solemnity to be used 
at the Grave, 

When the body is stript of all but its grave attire, The Medi- 
and is just going to be put into the ground, it is most J^*' q^^vV 
like to make the deepest impression upon us, and to 
strike us with the most serious apprehensions of our 
mortality. This happy opportunity the Church is un- 
willing to lose ; and therefore, whilst we are in such 
good dispositions of mind, she presents us with a noble 
strain of devotion, consisting of a meditation on the 
shortness, and misery, and uncertainty of life, together 
with an acknowledgment of our dependance on God, 
whom yet we have disobliged and offended with our 
sins. However, we presume to fly to him for succour, 
and beg of him to preserve us from eternal Death here- 
after, and to support us under the pains of temporal 
Death here. 

II. Next after this follows the solemn interment : im- Thetakmg 
mediately before which the Gentiles took their leave of leaveofthe 
their deceased friends, by bidding them Farewell for ^^^^* 
erer*^. And the ancient Christians used to give a part- 
ing kiss of charity, just as the body was about to be put 
into the grave, to declare their affection, and evidence 
that he died in the unity and peace of the Church ", a 
custom still retained in the Greek Church **and in some 
of the northern parts of England. 

§. 2. As for the Posture or Position of the Corpse in ThcPosi- 
the grave, it hath been always a custom to bury them J!f" °^ *^^ 

the Grave. 
13 Tirg. ^n. 11. v. 97. Alex, 150. A. Durand. Rational, 1. 7. 

ab Alex. 1. 3. c. 7. c 35. 

14 Dionya. Areop. c. 7. pag. 15 Eucholog. pag. 535. 

* inark that a different construction has been common in America ; 
arising partly perhaps from necessity. In this country the burial 
grounds are often at a very considerable distance from the churches, 

, which renders it inconvenient if not impracticable to jro to both. la 
this case, that part of the service appointed to be used in the church 
is omitted, or Is used at the house of the deceased. And even where 
the burial grtund is near the Church, the severity of heat and cold 
in our climate is so much greater than in that of England, that it has 
been thought a measure of mercy to have the whole service in the 
" ^ckurch. It is submitted however to the consideration of those whose 
right it is " to appease diversity and to resolve doubts" among their 
clergy, whether it is not best to adhere strictly to the construction 
of the English ritualists, whenever the necessity of the case, or a due 
regard to the health of the persons present, do not seem te demand 
a contrary practice. — Am, Ed^ 



528 Of the Order for the, Burial of the Bead, 

Chap XII. with their Feet eastward and their Face upwards^ that sg^ 

• — ^ at the Resurrection they may be ready to meet Christ, 

who is expected from the East^ and that they may bef 
in a posture of prayer as soon as they are raised ^^ 
io^^ Earth' §* ^' '^^^ casting Earth upon the body was esteemed 
iip^on the ^^ ^ct of piety by the very Heathens " ; insomuch 
Bodj. that to find a body unburied, and leave it uncovered, 
was judged amongst them a great crime ^^ In the 
Greek Church this has been accounted so essential to 
the solemnity, that it is ordered to be done by the Priest 
himself ^^ And the same was enjoined by our own 
rubric m the first Common Prayer of King Edward VI. 
But in our present Liturgy it is only ordered that it 
shall be cast upon the body by some standing by : and so 
it is generally left to one of the Bearers, or Sexton, who, 
according to Horace's description^*^, gives three casts of 
earth upon the body, or coffin, whilst the Priest pro- 
nounces the solemn form which explains the ceremony, 
/ viz. Earth to Earthy Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, 
The form §, 4. And indeed the whole form of words, which the 
of words, priegt jg to use whilst the ceremony is performing, is 
very pertinent and significant*. The phrase of com' 
rnitted his body to the ground, implies, that we deliver it 
into safe custody, and into such hands as will faithfully 
restore it again. We do not cast it away as a lost and 
perished carcase ; but carefully lay it in the ground, as 
having in it a seed of eternity, and in sure and certain 
hope of the Resurrection to eternal life : not that we be- 
lieve that every one we bury shall rise again to joy and 
felicity, or profess this sure and certain hope of the Res- 
urrection of the person that is now interred. It is not 
HIS Resurrection, but the Resurrection that is here ex- 
pressed ; nor do we go on to mention the change of 
HIS body, in the singular number, but of our vile body, 

* In the first Common Prayer Book of King Edward VI. 
the beginning was different from what it is now. — Then the 
Priest, casting Earth upon the Corpse, shall say, I commend 
thy soul to God the Father, Almighty, and thy Body to the 
groimdf Earth to Earth, 8^c. 

16 Durand. ut supra. 19 Goar. Eucholog. Office. Ex- 

17 iElian. Var. Hist, 1. 5. c. eq. pag. 538. 

14. 20 Injecto ter pulvere. Herat, 

18 Herat. 1. 1* Od. 28. v. 36. ut supra. 



Of (he Ofdlr for the Burial of the Dead. 529 

which comprehends the bodies of Christians in general.* Sect. V. 
That this is the sense and meaning of the words, may 
be shewn from the other parallel form, which the Church 
has appointed to be used at the Burial of the Dead at 
Seat, And this being a principal article of our faith, it 
is highly reasonable that we should publicly acknowl- 
edge and declare our steadfastness in it, when we lay 
the body of any Christian in the grave. 

in. After the foregoing form follows a consolatory T\^e ^en- 
Sentence from Rev. xiv. 3. to be said by the Priest alone, tence out 
or to be suns; by him and the Clerks together. The °^/^^? ^^" 
propriety ol it to the present solemnity occasioned its 
being used in the Western Church many centuries ago^*. 
It is a special Revelation that was made to St John, and 
ordered to be recorded for ever by him^ to be a per- 
petual consolation in relation to the state of departed 
Saints. For since Jesus hath now conquered Death, 
from henceforth blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord, 
They are no more to be lamented, but to be the subjects 
of our joy. The Spirit assures us, that they rest from 
their Labours, their work is done, their warfare accom- 
plished, and now they enjoy crowns of victory as the 
rewards of their pains. 

IV. But though the deceased rest from //leir labours, The Lord's 
yet we are in the midst of ours : and therefore in the Prayer, 
next place we proceed to pray for our own salvation, 

* To avoid <he possibility of (he misconstruction here referred to, 
instead of *' in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal 
life through," &c. the Aujerican office runs thus- : " looking for the 
general resurrection in the last day and the life of the world to come^ 
through our Lord Jesus ChristV The reader will perceive that this 
alteration is derived from the parallel form here mentioned and quo- 
ted in the margin as explaining the sense of the language used in the 
Knglish office. Am. Ed. 



t We therefore commit his Bodij to the Deep., to he turned 
into Corruption, looking for the Resurrection of the Body {when 
the Sea shall give up her Dead) and the Life of the World to 
come, through our Lord Jesus Christ, tscho at his coming shall 
change our vile Body, ^c. 



21 Durand. Rational. I. 7. c. 35. Man. Sarisb. fol. 137, &c. 
TTt 



530 Of the. Order for the Burial of the Dead. 

Gbap. XII. and the consummation of our own happiness, beginning 
- first (as in most other offices) with the lesser Liiany^ and 

Lord'^s Prayer, 
The two y^ After this follow two other Praj^ers : in each of 
^^'^ ^' which there is such a noble mixture of acts of Faith and 
Hope concerning che state of our deceased friend, and 
of prayers and petitions for our happiness with him, as, 
being duly attended to, will effectually pacify that un- 
necessary grief, which is pernicious to ourselves, with- 
out benefitmg the deceased ; and will turn our thoughts 
to a due care of our own souls, in order to our meeting 
again, with infinitely more joy, than we now part with 
sorrow and grief. 
Hope of §. 2. Against the last of these prayers it is often ob- 
the party 'sjgj,jgj^ that we make declaration of Hope that all we 
how^much ^"^y ^^^ saved. In order to appease the scruples 
it necessa- about which, as far as the nature of the expression will 
riiyina- bear, we desire it may be considered, that there are 
phes. very different degrees of Hope, the lowest of which is 
but one remove from Despair, Now there are but very 
few, with whom we are concerned, that die in a state so 
' utterly desperate, as that we may positively affirm they 

are damned ; which yet we might do, did we absolutely 
and entirely despair of their salvation. It remains 
therefore that we must have some, though very faint 
hopes of their salvation : and this seems sufficient to 
warrant this declaration, especially if it be pronounced 
as faintly as the hope itself is entertained. However, 
it must be confessed, that it is very plain, from the whole 
tenor of this office, that the compilers of it, presuming 
upon a due exercise of discipline, never supposed that 
any would be offered to Christian Burial, who had not 
led Christian lives. But since iniquity hath so far pre- 
vailed over the discipline of the Church, that Schisma- 
tics, Heretics, and all manner of vicious livers, escape 
its censures, this gloss seems the best that our present 
circumstances will admit of. And if it be not satisfacto- 
ry, there seems to be no other remedy left, than that 
our governors should leave us to a discretionary use of 
these expressions, either till they be altered by public 
authority, or, which is much rather to be wished, till 
discipline be so vigorously exercised, that there be no 
offence in the use of them, t 

* The tester Lil any i« omitted in the American office. Am. Ed. 
t As important alterations have been made in these i\fO 
prayers in the American Prayer Hook, with a view of re- 



Of ilia Order for the Burial of the Bead, 531 



§. 3. The Prayer, against which this objection is Sect.v. 

made, is in our present Common Prayer Book called -• ' 

The Collect : the reason of which is, because in King ?*'^^J^j"jg 
Edward's first book, at the end of the BuriaKOffice, there commu- 
is an order for The Celebration of the holy Communion^ nion at 
zohen there is a Burial of the Bead, The forty-second Funerals 
Psalm is appointed for the Introit. The prayer I am ^pppg-nfed. 
now speaking of, with a little alteration at the end, 
which I shall give by and by, stands there for the Col- 
lect; 1 Thess. iv. 13, to the end, is ordered for the 
Epistle ; and for the Gospel, St, John vi. 37 to 48, 

Receiving the Eucharist at Funerals is not without 
precedents in the ancjent Church ^^ Bishop Cosin was 
of opinion, that " the design of it was to declare, that 
" the dead person departed out of this life in the public 



22 Vide Concil. Carthag. Can. 
44. ap. Berereg. Pandect. Can, 
vol. i. p. 567. et vol. ii, p. 207 
Aug. de Funere Matris suae Moa- 



icae, Libi Confess. 9. c. 12. et 
Possid. de Morte. et Funere An* 
gust, in ejusdem Vita. 



moving the objections which not only the ignorant and mis- 
informed,bat many pious and intelligent persons have made 
to the English office ; and as these objections have been 
sometimes advanced against the American service, from 
want of knowing the alteraticns ; it will not be displeasing 
to the reader to see these parts of the two offices collated, 
the parts altered being in italics. 



ENGLISH. 

Priest. 

Almighty God, M'ith whom do 
live the spirits of them //lof depart 
hence in the Lord ; and with 
wh^m the souls of the faithful, are 
in j y and felicity ; we gite thee 
hearty thanks, for that it hath 
pleased thee to deliver this our 
brother out of the miseries of this 
sinful world ; beseeching thee^ that 
it may please thee of thy gracious 
goodness y shortly to accomplish the 
number of thine electa and to hast- 
en thy kingdom ; that we, with all 
those that are departed in the true 
faith of thy holy nume, may have 
our perfect consummation and 
bliss, both in body and sou), in thy 
eternal and everlasting glory, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. — 
•Amen, 



AMERICAN. 

Then the Minister shall say one 
or both of the following prayers^ at 
his discretion 

Almighty God, with whom do 
live the Spirits of those who depart 
hence in the Lord ; and with 
whom the souls of the faithful, af- 
ter they are delivered from the 
burthen of theflesh^are in joy and 
felicity ; we give thee hearty 
thanks for the good examples of all 
those thy servants, who having 
finished their course in faith, do 
n»w rest from their labours. And 
we beseech thee that we, with all 
those who ar« departed in the true 
faith of thy holy name, may have 
our perfect consummation and 
bliss, ijoth in body and soul, in 
thy eternal and everlasting glory, 
through JesQs Christ onr Lord 
Amen, 



532 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead. 



Chap XII. « faith and unity of the Catholic Church of Christ. 
" From whence, saith he, we learn, what the reason 
" was, that Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, so 
*' much desired to be remembered at the Altar after her 
" Death, which was not (as the fond and ignorant sort 
" of people among the new Roman Catholics imagine) 
" to fetch her soul so much the sooner out of Purgatory, 
"(for the Papal Purgatory fire was not then kindled or 
" known ;) but partly to testify her faithful departure 
'^ in the religion and communion among all other good 
'« Christians j and partly to have praise and thanks- 
** givings rendered to Almighty God, for her happy de- 
*' parture out of this world to a better ; and partly also, 
' that by the prayers of the Church, made at the cele- 
'' bration of the holy Eucharist, and by virtue of Christ's 
'' death and sacrifice therein commemorated, she might 
• obtain a joyful Resurrection of her body out of the 
'' grave, and have her perfect consummation of glory, 
^' both in body and soul, in God's everlasting kingdom^V 



The Collect. 
O merciful God, the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
l"e^urrection and the life, in whom 
whosoever believeth shall live, 
though he die ; and whosoever 
Jiveth and believeth in him shall 
not die eternally ; who also halli 
taught us, by hio holy Apostle 
Saint Paul, not to be sorry as men 
without hope, for them that sleep 
in him ; we meekly beseech thee, 
O Father, to raise us from the death 
of sin unto the lite of righteousness ; 
that when we shaildepart this life, 
we may rest in him, as our hope 
IS, THIS OCR brother DOTH ; and 
that at the general resurrection in 
the last day, we may be found ac 
oeptable in thy sight ; and receive 
that blessing, which thy well be- 
loved son shall then pronounce to 
all that Jove and fear thee, saying, 
Come, ye blessed children of my 
Father, receive the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the beginning 
of the world: grant this, we he- 
seech thee, O merciful Father, 
through Je?us Christ, our Medi- 
ator and Redeemer, Amtn^ 



O merciful God, the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
ressurrection and the life, in whom 
whosoever believeth, f^hall live, 
though he die; and whosoever 
livetli and believeth in him, shall 
not die eternally ; who also hath 
taught us, by his holy Apostle 
S.int Paul, not to be sorry, as men 
without hope, for those icho sleep 
in him ; we /jwmfc/^/ beseech thee, 
O Father,to raise us from the death 
of sin unto the life of righteousness; 
that when we shaildepart this life, 
we may rest h^ him, *♦*♦♦*♦ 
*if**itiieit4**it*^t*. and 
that at the general resurrection in 
the last day, we may be found ac- 
ceptable in thy sight ; ani!| receive 
that blessing, whicli thy well be- 
loved sou shall then pronounce to 
all who love and fear thee, saying. 
Come ye blessed children of my 
Father, receive the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the beginning 
of the world : grant thi.«, we be- 
seech thee, O merciful Father, 
through Jesus Christ, our Medi- 
ator and Redeemer, wflmcn. 



23 See Bishop Cosines ^^ote up- another Note of Bishop OveraPs 
on this Collect, in Dr. NichoPs to the same purpose, in the same 
Additional Kotes, p. 65. As also place. 



Of (he Order for the Burial of the Dead. 533 

*' Innoceni (saith Mr. I'Estranse) was this rite, whilst it Sect. V. 
**• prr^prved its first intent: but it degenerating from its ' 
'' oiiginal purity, by Masses and Dirges sung for the 
''■ souls of the Dead, wisely was it done of our second 
'' reformers, to remove not only the evils themselves of 
'' surh ht>terodox opinions, but even the occasions of 
'' them also, viz, the Communion used at Burials^." 
Which being so evident as to matter of fact, (for the se- 
cond book of King Edward was published without it,) 
it may sotm something strange, now it came to be re- 
printed in the Latin translation of Queen Elizabeth's 
C'onimon Prayer Book, in the second year of her reign. 
That this was not a translation of a private pen not 
licensed by authority, and so the effect of mistake, or a 
clandestine practice, (as Bishop Sparrow conjectures^*,) 
is plain from its being dnne by the command of the 
Queen, and by her recommendation of it to the two 
Universities, and to the Colleges of Winchester and 
Eton ; and particularly by the express words of her 
Majesty's Proclamation, wherein she declares, that 
some things peculiar at the Funerals of Christians she had 
add d and commanded to be used, the Act for Uniformity^ 
set forth in the first year of her reign, to the contrary not- 
withstanding^^. Perhaps it might have been ordered 
for the same reason, that I have supposed the reserva- 
tion of the elements was allowed, or indulged to those 
learned societies by the same book% viz* because they 
were in less danger of abusing it, and it might contri- 
bute to reconcile them the easier to the Reformation. 

I have already hinted that the close of the prayer, 
which is called the Collect in our present office, was 
diflferent, as it stood in the first Common Prayer, from 
what it is now. The present conclusion of it was taken 
from the end of another prayer, which was then in this 
office; but of which the beginning has ever since been 
left out; but the best way to give the reader a clear 



24 Alliance of Divine Offices, decantanda adjungi praecipimns, 
pag. 303 Statute de Ritu Publicarum Pre- 

25 Seethe Bishop's Answer to cum, Anno primo Regni nostri 
some Liturgical D^manHs, at the promulgato, in contrarium non 
end of his Rationale on the Com- obstante Bi^hop Sparrow's Col- 
mon Prayer, }. 10 lection, page 202. 

26 Peculiaria qnaedam in Chris- 27 See Appendix to Chap XI. 
tianorum Funeribus et Exequiis Sect. I. I. 2. pag. 5O0. 



534 Of the Order for the Burial of the Dead, 

Qbap- XI I. notion of it, is to transcribe the prayers at the bottom 

Th Bi ~ ^^ '^^ P^»^» whither therefore I refer him*. 

ing. ' §• ^' ^^^ Blessing was added at the end of the whole 

office at the last review, of which enough has been said 

in other places. 
The Peal, ^. 5. 'y\^q whole solemnity is concluded with another 

Peal, which the same canon ^^ orders after the Burial, 

that appoints one before it. 

28 Canon LXVII. 



* After the Sentence, / heard a Voice from Heaven.^c. fol- 
lowed, Let us pray. 

We commend into thy hands of mercy ^{most merciful Father^ 
the Soul of this our Brother departed^ N. And his Body u-e 
commit to the earthy beseeching thine infinite goodness to give 
Its grace to live in thy fear and love^ and to die in thy favour : 
that when the Judgment shall come^ which thou hast commit- 
ted to thy well-beloved Son^ both this our brother^ and we, may 
he found acceptable in thy sight^ and receive that blessing which 
thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and 
fear thee^ saying^ Come ye blessed Children of my Father^ re- 
ceive the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the 
ti)orld. Grant this^ merciful father^ for the honour of Jesus 
Christ our only Saviour^ Mediator^ and Advocate. Amen. 

This Prayer shall also be added. 

Almighty Gody we give thee hearty thanks for this thy ser- 
vant, whom thou hast delivered from the miseries of this wretch' 
ed world, from the Body of Death, and all Temptation ; and, 
as we trust, hast brought his Soul, which he committed into 
thy holy hands, into sure consolation and rest Grant, we be- 
seech thee, that, at the day of Judgment, his Soul and all the 
Souls of thy Ehct, departed out of this Life, may with us, and 
-n^e with them, fully receive thy promises, and be made perfect 
all together, through the glorious Resurrection of thy Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 

These were the two Prayers which were then used instead 
of the Prayers that are used at present : the last of which 
was then the Collect appointed for the Communion ofl&ce, 
except that instead of the latter part of it, which we see 
was the conclusion of another form in King Edward's book, 
it ended thus : 

And that, at the general Resurrection in the last day^ both 
T<c, and this our brother departed, receiving again our bodies. 



Of the Thanksgiving of Women after CMld'EirHi, 6,^5 






CHAP. XIIL 

4)fthe ThanJcsgivin^ of Women after CHILD 
BIRTH, Commonly called The Churching 
OF Women. 

The Introduction. 

One would think that, after an office for the Burial o/IntroducU 
the Dead, no other should be expected : and yet we " ~ 
see here another rises to our view, which the Church ^^ Jf^^^' 
has appointed for the use of such Women as have been the office 
safe delivered from the great Pain and Peril of Child- for theBu- 
Birth, and which she has placed in her Liturgy after ^^^d!*^ 
the office foregoing, to intimate, as it were, that such a 
Woman's Recovery is next to a Revival or Resurrec- 
tion from the Dead. For indeed the Birth of Man is 
so truly wonderful, that it seems to be designed as a 
standing demonstration of the omnipotence of God. 
And therefore that the frequency of it may not diminish 
our admiration, the Church orders a public and solemn 
acknowledgment to be made on every such occasion 
by the Woman on whom the miracle is wrought ; who 
still feels the bruise of our first Parents' Fall, and la- 
bours under the curse which Eve then entailed upon 
her whole Sex. 

§. 2. As to the original of this custom, it is not to be ^^iq/I^^ 
doubted, but that as many other Christian usages re- 
ceived their rise from other parts of the Jewish econ- 
omy, so did this from the rite of Purification, which is 
enjoined so particularly in the twelfth chapter of Le- 
viticus. Not that we observe it by virtue of that pre- 
cept, which we grant to have been ceremonial, and so 
not now of any force ; but because we apprehend some 
moral duty to have been implied in it by way of analogy, 
which must be obligatory upon all, even when the cere- 
mony is ceased. The uncleanness of the Woman, the 



and rising again in thy most gracious favour^ may^ with all thy 
elect Saints^ obtain eternal joy. Grant this, O Lord God, by 
the means of our Advocate Jesus Christ, who with thee and tbe 
Holy Ghost livethand reigneth one God for ever, Amen^ 



bSG Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child- BirUu 

Chap.XIII. set number of days she is to abstf^in from the Tabcr^ 

nacle, and the sacrifices she was to offer when she first 

came abroad, are rites wholly abolished, and what we 
no ways regard : but then the open and solemn ac- 
knowledgment of God's goodness in delivermg theMoth- 
er, and increasing the number of Mankind, is a duty 
that will oblige to the end of the world. And there- 
fore though the Mother be now no longer obliged to 
offer the material sacrifices of the Law; yet she is 
nevertheless bound to offer the evangelical sacrifice of 
Praise. She is still publicly to acknowledge the Bless- 
ing vouchsafed her, and to profess her sense of the 
fresh obligation it lays her under to obedience. Nor 
indeed may the Church be so reasonably supposed to 
have taken up this rite from the practice of the Jews, 
as she may be, that she began it in imitation of the bless- 
ed Virgin, who though she was rather sanctified than 
defiled by the Birth of our Lord, and so had no need 
of Purification from any Uncleanness, whether legal or 
moral; j^et wisely and humbly submitted to this rite, 
and offered her praise, together with her blessed Son, 
in the Temple^^. And that from hence this usage was 
derived among Christian?, seems probable, not only 
from its being so universal and ancient.that the beginning 
of it can hardly any where befound^^; but also from the 
practice of the Eastern Church, where the Mother still 
brings the Child along with her, and presents it to God 
on her Churching day ^^ The Priest indeed is there 
said to purify them : and in our first Common Prayer, 
this office with us was entitled The Order of the Purifica- 
tion of Women, But that neither of these terms implied, 
that the Woman had contracted any Uncleanness in 
her state of Child-bearing, may not only be inferred 
from the silence of the offices both in the Greek Church 
and ours in relation to any Uncleanness ; but is also 
farther evident from the ancient laws relating to this 
practice, which by no means ground it upon any im- 
purity, from which the Woman stands in need to be 

29VideChrysost.e,tTheopliylact. lioth. Patr. tono. vi. Honorius So- 

' in Luc. ii. 22. Jitar. J. I. c. 146- ut citat. ap. 

3 t Vide Dionys. Alexandr.Can. Goar. in Eucholog. See also Pope 

2. apnd lieverej;;. Coiicil. torn. ii. Gregory's Answer to the eighth 

pa2. 4. Novel. Const. Leon. Aug. Qnertion of Augustin the Monk, 

Novel. 17. ap. Balsam, in loc. in Mr. Johnson, A, D. 601. 8{.2. 

Dionysii ap. Bever. ut supra. Can. 31 Vide Simeon. Thessalonic. 

Pcrnitent. Greg. ,S. cap. 30. Bib- in Not. ad Eucholog. p. 329. 



Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birth. 53? 

purged 32. And therefore, when our own Liturgy came Secf.T* 
to be reviewed, to prevent all misconstructions that — — 
might be put upon the wordj the title vVas altered, 
and the office named, (as it is still in our present Com- 
mon Prayer-Book,) The Thanksgiving of Women after 
Child'Birth^ commonly called the Churching of Women* 

Sect. f. Of the Rubric before the Office,^ 

In the Greek Church the time for performing this office the Wo- 
is limited to be on the fortieth day^^ ; and therefore the °»»n ^^^^ 
office with them is called, the Prayer for a Woman forty ft^"het*'l 
days after Child-bearing^"^, But in the West the time was bI time 
never strictly determinecl,as will appear from the Salisbu- after her 
ry Manual, which was ©fuse here in England before the **^^'^«fy» 
Reformation, where the old rubric runs thus : J^ote, That 
Women after Child-birth may come to Churchy and, giving 
thanks, be purified whenever they will, and they are not gtiiU 
ty of any sift in so doing: neither is the entrance of the 
Church to be denied them^ lest we turn their punishment into 
a crime; but if out of reverence, they will abstain for some 
time, their devotion is not to be disallowed^^. And as this 
was consonant to the ancient canons of the Church in 
relation to this aiFair, so is it agreeable to our present ru- 
bric ; which does not pretend to limit the day when the 
Woman shall be churched, but only supposes that she 
will come at the usual time after her delivery. The usual timt 
IS now about a month : for the Woman's weakness will 
seldom permit her coming sooner. And if she be not 
able to come so soon, she is allowed to stay a longer 
time 5 the Church not expecting her to return her thanks 
for a blessing before it is received. 

§. 2. It is only required that whenever she does it, she the Office 
shall come into the Church* And this is enjoined, first, for *'' be al- 
the honour of God^ whose marvellous works in the form- '^e^forihed 
ation of the Child, and the preservation of the Woman, fn^the 

Cfaurcb. 

* In the American Prayer Book, there are two rubrics, of which 
this is the second The first provides that the whole nf the Service or 
the coDcludiog prajer alone may be used at the discretion of the IMih- 
ister. tAtn, Ed» 

S2 See the places cited above 34 Eucholog. p. 324* 

in Note 30. 35 Manual. Sarisb. Rubric, post 

33 Simeon. Thessalonic. ut eu- Officium Benedict. Mnlicr. post 

pra Part. pag. 37. K. 

U WU 



538 Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birlh. 

^^P*^^"' ought publicly lo be owned, that so others inay learn to 
" '■ put their trust in him. Secondly, that the whole congre- 
gation may have a fit opportunity for praising God for 
the too much forgotten mercy of their Birth. And, 
thirdly, that the Woman may in the proper place own 
the mercy now vouchsafed her, of being restored to the 
happy privilege of worshipping God in the congregation 
of his Saints. 
The absur How great therefore is the absurdity which some 
ditj v^f would introduce of stifling their acknowledgments in pri- 
churched vate houses, and of giving thanks for their recovery and 
at home, enlargement in no other place than that of their confine- 
ment and restraint ! a practice which is inconsistent with 
the very name of this office, which is called The Church- 
ing of Women, and which consequently implies a ridicu- 
lous solecism of being Churched at home. Nor is it any 
thing more consistent with the end and devotions pre- 
scribed by this office, than it is with the name of itv For 
with what decency or propriety can the Woman pretend 
to pay her Vows in the presence of all God'*s People, in the 
Courts of the Lord^s House, when she is only assuming 
state in a bedchamber or parlour, and perhaps only ac- 
companied with her midwife or nurse? To give thanks 
^ therefore at home (for by no means call it Churching) is 

not only an act of disobedience to the Church, but a high 
affront to Almighty God ; whose mercy they scorn to 
acknowledge in a church, and think it honor enough done 
him, if he is summoned by his Priest to wait on them at 
their hojiises, and to take what thanks they will vouphsafe 
him there. But methinks a Minister, who has any regard 
for his character, and considers the honour of the Lord 
he serves, should disdain such a servile compliance and 
submission, and abhor the betraying his Master's dignity. 
Here can be no pretence of danger in the case, should 
the Woman prove obstinate, upon the Priest's refusal, 
(which Ministers are apt to urge for their excuse, when 
they are prevoiled upon to give public baptism in pri- 
vate ;) nor is the decision of a council wanting to instruct 
him (if he has any doubts upon account of the Woman's 
ill health) that he is not to perform this office at home^ though 
she be really so weak as not to be able to come to Church^^* 
For if she be not able to come to Church, let her staj 

36 Concil. 3. Med ol. cap. 5. ap. Bioium, toin. iv. part. 2. pag. 417. 
Edit. CoJ. Agri|\ IdIS. 



Of iht Thanksgiving of Womm after Child-Birth, 539 

till she is : God does not require any thanks for a mer- Sect. I. 
Gy, before he has vouchsafed it : but if she comes as soon " ■" 

as her strength permits, she discharges her obligations 
boh to him and the Church. 

§, 3. When the Woman comes to this office, the rubric The Wo- 
(as it was altered in the last review) directs that she be "»«" *» ^e 
dtcently apparelled, i. e. as the custom and order was for- appareU- 
merly, wiiti a white Covering, or Veil. And we find that ©d. 
as late as in the reign of King James I. an order was veils used 
made by the Chancellor of Norwich, that every Woman forcoerly. 
who came to be churched should come thus apparelled ; 
an (;rder it seems so well founded upon the practice of 
the Church, that a Woman refusing to conform with it 
was excommunicated for contempt. And though she 
prayed a prohibition, and alleged in her defence, that 
such order was not warranted by any custom or canon 
ot the Church of England, yet she got no relief; for 
theJudges desiring the opinion of the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury ; and he, together with several other Bishops, 
whom he convened to consult upon it, certifying that it 
was the ancient usage of the Church of England for Wo- 
men to come veiled, who came to be churched ; a prohi- 
bition was refused her^^ But that custom having now 
for some time been discontinued, long enough 1 suppose 
to make it obsolete, 1 take the decency of the Woman's 
apparel to be left entirely to her own discretion. 

§. 4. The Woman being come into the church decent- where to 
ly apparelled, must there kneel down in some convenient kneel. 
place, as has been accustomed. To know where that is, it 
is necessary that we look back into the old Common 
Prayer Books. King Edward's first Liturgy sa3^s, in some 
convenient place, nigh unto the Quire door, which is still 
rendered plainer by all the other Common Prayer Books 
from that time till this present one, which say it must be 
nigh unto the place where the Table standeth, i. e. to be sure, 
at the rails of the Communion Table, or where she is to 
kneel if she receives the Communion, which the last ru- 
bric of this office declares it is convenient she should do, 
if there be any Communion in the church at that time. 
And that this same place is meant by our present rubric, 
which ord€rs her to kneel in some convenient placej as has 
been accustomed, is evident, because we see that was the 
accustomed and appointed place, when these worils weye 



37 Bishop Gibson's Codex, Tit. 18. cap. 12. ?. 451. 



5AQ Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birtlu 

C^hap.XIII. put in. It is true, the Presbyterians, at the conference 
*^ in the Savoy, objected against the rubric as it was word- 

ed then : And in regard that the Woman's kneeling near the 
Table was in many churches inconvenient, they desired that 
those words might be left out ; and that the Minister might 
perjorm that service in the Desk or Pulpit^^, And it is aU 
so true, that these words were accordingly left out, and 
the rubric altered thus, viz. that the Woman should kneel 
m somi- convenient place, as has been accustomed, or as the 
Ordinary shall direct. But yet it is plain, that wherever 
the Ordinary does not otherwise direct, the Woman is 
still to kneel in the accustomed place. And that the accus- 
tomed place, till the last review, was nigh unto the place 
where the Table :Aandelh^ I have showed before. And that 
no alteration was then designed, is farther evident beyond 
contradiction, from the answer which the Bishops, and 
the other Episcopal Commissioners gave to the afore- 
said exception of the Presbyterians, viz. It is fit that the 
W Oman performing especial service ofThanksgivmg should 
have a special place, where she may be perspicuous to the whole 
Congregation ; and near the holy Table, m regard of the Of- 
firing she is there to make. They need not fear Popery in this, 
since in tne Church of Rome she is to kneel at the Church-^ 
door^^. So that the reason, I presume, of their altering 
the rubric was not to give the Ordinary a general power 
to change the accustomed place, where there was no oc- 
casion ; but because in some places the churches were 
so inconveniently built, that by the interposition of a 
Belfry between the church and the chancel (as I have 
observed elsewhere^®,) the Minister could not be heard 
out of the chancel into the church; therefore the Ordi- 
nary should, in such cases, have power or authority to 
allow the Woman to be churched in some other place. 
Just as I have showed'*^ he has power, in the same case, 
to order the Morning and Evening Prayer to be read 
where he pleases. But where there is no such impedi- 
ment, or at least where the Ordinary has not otherwise 
enjoined, there to be sure this office is to be performed, 
even by virtue of this rubric, at the Communion Table 
er Altar. 



38 Proceedings o( the Commis- sionew, &c, p. 120. quarto, i66i. 
ri^nerf, &c. p. 37. quarto, 1661, 40 Chap, II. Sect. V. 

i?9 Proceedings ol" the Coininis- 41 Ibid. 



Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birth, 541 

§. 5. In what pari of the service this office is to come Sect. U. 
in, the rubric does not say : hut by some old Articles ot ~ ■ 
Visitation, which the Bishops used to make the sul ject p" r7of the 
of their inquiry it appears to have been used just before service to 
the Communion-office^^: and no one, 1 believe, will deny, beper- 
that it is more regular there, than when it interrupts the ^ofn^^d. 
ordinary service, as it does when it is used either just be- 
fore or just after the general Thanksgiving; or than when 
it is performed iti the midst of the hurry and noise of 
the people^s going out of church, as it is when it is de- 
ferred till the whole service is done. All the difficulty 
that lies against confining it to be used just before the 
Communion-office is, that no Woman could then be 
churched but on a Sunday or a Holy-day, when that of- 
fice is to be read. But to this it may be answered, that 
if she could not, the inconvenience would not be great: 
and therefore since most of the other occasional offices 
of the Church are suf)posed to be performed on Sundays 
and Holy-days, why should not this? If I judge right 
from the rubric at the end of this office, it is so supposed ; 
for it is there said, that if there be a Communion, it is con^ 
venient that the Woman receive it. Now there can never 
be a Communion, but when the Communion-office is 
read; and therefore since the Church supposes there 
may be a Communion, when the Woman is churched, 
she seems to make no doubt but that she will come to be 
churched on some Sunday or Holy-day when that office 
is appointed : though if she come upon an ordinary- 
week-day, the Communion may be administered if she 
ciesires to receive, and then she may be churched regular- 
ly at the Holy Table, before the Communion-office 
begins. 

Sect. U, Of the Devotions, 

I. It is a common defect in all other Liturgies, that The Pre. 
they have no Prefaces to introduce the several offices, face, 
and to prepare the parties concerned to do their duties 
with understanding. But it is the peculiar care of the 
Church of England to instruct us how to do every duty, 
as well as to assist us in the doing it. Hence the daily- 
prayers begin with an Exhortation, as do most of the 
other offices of the Church. Even this short one is not 

42 Bp. of Norwich's Articles 1536, a« cited in the Additienal Notes 
<>f Dr. Nichol?, pa^e 66. 



^42 Of ilie Thanksgiving of Women afkr Child-Birth, 

Chap.xn i. without a suitable Preface directed to the Woman, where- 
- by the Priest first excites her to a thankful acknowledg- 
ment for the mercy she has received, and then directs 
her in what words to perform it. 
Psalms. '^' ^^^ Psalm appointed on this occasion, in all the 

Psaira ' Common Prayer Books till the last review, was the 
cxsi, cxxist*, which with the cxxviiith was also prescribed by 
the office used in the Church of Rome. But neither of 
these is so very apt to the case, as those are which we 
have now. The first of which, though composed by 
David upon his recovery from some dan$:erous sickness, 
IS yet, by leaving out a verse or twot, which makes men- 
tion of the other sex, easily enough applicable to the case 
of a Woman, who comes to give her thanks for so great 
a deliverance. 
Ps. cxxTii. §^ 2. The other more regards the Birth of the Child, 
and is very seasonable to be used whenever it is living, 
to excite the parents to the greater thankfulness^. And 
as the first is most proper, when we respect the Pain and 
Peril which the Mother has gone through : so the last 
ought to be used when an heir is born, or a Child be- 
stowed on those who wanted and desired one. Nor may 
' it less aptly be used when those ot meaner condition are 

churched : for by enlarging on the blessings of a nume- 
rous family, it obviates the too common murmurings of 
those wretches, who think themselves oppressed by such 
an increase. 
The Wo- ^. 3, And here by the way the Woman should ob- 
pea" after" ^^^7^' ^^^^ *^« ^^ to sa^ the following Psalm of Thanks- 
the Minis- giving, i, e. she is to repeat it with an audible voia^^s she 
terwithan does the daily confession, after the Mmister. For the 
audible Psalm is properly applicable to her alone ; and the Min- 
ister reads it, not upon his own account, but only to in- 
struct and lead the Woman, by going before her, and, as 
it were, putting into her mouth what words she must say. 



* The Scotch Liturgy orders the cxxist, or the xxviith. 



t The English office omit? the last part of the I3th, the 14th, 15th^ 
and first part of the 16th verses. In the American Prayer Book many 
more verges of fhi? Psaira are omitted, than in the English, viz. the 3d, 
6lh, 7th, 8tb, 9(h and 10th The reason of these omissions will be 
obvions to the reader. w^m. Ed. 

':^ This psalm is omitted in the American Prayer Book. — •/im. Ed. 



voice. 



0/ the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birth. 543 

^ III. The Psalm being over, the Minister gives notice Sect. lU. 
'ihat another part of duty, viz. Prayer, is beginning: in ij;,^^ ^oj.^,^ 
which, by the usual iorm^ Let us pray, he calls upon the pjayerand 
whole congregation to join : and that the address maybe Responses, 
humble, it is begun with the short Litany, Lord have mer^ 
cy upon us, 4"c.* That it may also be effectual, it is con- 
tinued in the Lord'>s Prayer, (to which the Boxology was 
added at the last revirw, by reason of its being an office 
of thanlcsgiving :) and that all may bear a part, two or 
three short Responses are added for the Woman's safety 
and defence"^. 

IV. And at last the whole office is closed with a short xhe 
^nd piousCo//ec/,consistingof a devout mixture of Prayer Prayer, 
and Praise, so peculiarly suited to the present occasion, 
that it needs no enlargement to show its propriety!. 

Sect. III. Of ike last rubric. 

1 HE office being thus devoutly performed, the rubric ^i^^ j^^ 
gives notice, that the Woman that comes to give her Thanks man for- 
must offer accustomed Offerings. By the first Common °J!'^y.*^ 
Prayer of King Edward VI. the Woman that was purified dj^jgom 
7DUS to offer her Chrii>om and other accustomed Offerings, and why* 
And by a rubric m the same Book, at the end of the pub- 
lic office of Baptism, The Minister was to command^ at the 
time of Baptism, that the Chrisom he brought to the Churchy 
and delivered to the Priests, after the accustomed manner^ at 
the Purification of the Mother of every Child. The Chri- 
som, i have formerly had occasion to show^, was a 
White Vesture or Garment, which was put upon the Child 
at the time of its Baptism, as a token of innocency, and 
which took its name from the Chrisom, or Ointment, 
with which the Child was anointed when the Chrisom 
was put on. These, I have observed, it was the custom 

* In the American Liturgy, the little Litany is omitted, and a rubric 
inserted, which provides that " the Lord's Prayer may be omitted, if 
this Collect be used with the Morning; or Evening Prayer,"— ^m. Ed, 



t In all the former books, the Collect began thus Ah 
mighty God^ which hast delivered this Woman, Sfc. 



43 Psalm lx»xvi. a. Ixi. 3. 44 Se* Chap. VII. Sect, III. p. S81, 
Ixij. 1. 



544 Of the Thanksgiving of Women aftn Ckiid-Birlh, 



ehap.XTII. 



The word 
Chrisoms 
in the 
Weekly 
Bills, 
whence it 
had its rise, 
and what 
it shooM 
signifj. 



Accustom' 
ed Offer- 



what 



they are 



anciently for the new^baptized to appear in at Church 
during the solemn time for Baptism, to show their resolu- 
tion of leading an innocent and unspotted life for the fu- 
ture, and then to put them off, and to deliver them to be 
laid up, in order to be produced, as evidences against 
them, should they afterwards violate or deny that faith 
which they had then professed'*^ And this, I supposi?, 
was the design of our own Church at the beginning of the 
Reformation, in ordering the Woman to offer the Chri- 
feom when she came to be churched. For if the Child 
happened to die before, then it seems she was excused 
from offering it; and indeed there was then no occasion 
to demand it, since it would be of no use to the Church 
when the Child was dead. And therefore in such case 
it was customary to wrap the child in it when it was bu- 
ried, in the nature of a shroud^^ And from this practice 
I suppose the name of Chrisoms had its rise in the Week- 
ly Bills of Mortality, which we may still observe among 
the casualties and diseases: though it is not now used to 
denote children that die between the time of their Bap- 
tism and their Mother's being churched, as it originally 
signified ; but, through the ignorance of Parish Clerks, 
and those that make the report, is put for children that 
die before they are baptized, and so are not capable of 
Christian burial. 

§. 2. But to return to the rubric. The Liturgy having 
been altered in the fifth year of King Edward, the use of 
the Chrisom at the Baptism of the Child was theD dis- 
continued J and in consequence thereto, the order for the 
Woman's offering it at her churching was then left out j^ 
so that now she is directed only to offer accustomed Offer' 
ings*^ i. e. those offerings which were customary besides 
the Chrisom, and which, when the Chrisom was in use, 
was distinguished in the rubric by other accustomed Offer- 
ijigs. By which undoubtedly is to be understood some 



* In the Scotch Liturgy the order for Offerings is entirely 
left out ; the whole of the rubric being this that follows : The 
TVoman that cometh to give her Thanks^ it is convenient that 
she receive the holy Communion^ if there be any at that time. 



45 See Chap. V. Sect. XVIII. 
XVX. pages 245, 247, &c. 



46 Gregory *e PostbtimovsWorkf, 
Chap. XXII. p. 108. 



Of the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-Birth. 545 

offering to the Minister who performs the office, not un- Sect. HI. 
der the notion of a fee or reward, but of something set 
apart as a tribute or acknowledgment due to God, who 
is pleased to declare himself honored or robbed accord- 
ing as such offerings are paid or withheld'*^*. We see 
under the Law, that every Woman who came to be pu- 
rified after Child-bearing, was required to bring some- 
thing that put her to an expense"^ : even the poorest 
among them was not wholly excused, but obliged to do 
something, though it were but small. And though nei- 
ther the kind nor the value of the expense be now pre- 
scribed ; yet sure the expense itself should not covet- 
ously be saved : a Woman that comes with any thank- 
fulness or gratitude should scorn to offer what David 
disdained, viz* of that which costs nothing. And indeed 
with what sincerity or truth can she say, as she is di- 
rected to do in one of the Psalms, / will pay my Vows 
now in the presence oj all his people^ if at the same time 
she designs no voluntary offering, which Vows were al- 
ways understood to imply ? 

§. 3. But, besides the accustomed offering to the Min- The Wo- 
ister, the Woman is to make a yet much better and ™a." ^°^^' 
greater offering, vjz. an offering of herself, to be a rea- c^j^^mu-^ 
sonable, holy, and lively sacrifice to God. For the ru- nion, if 
brie declares, that if there be a Communion, it is convene there be 
ient that she receive the holy Communion ; that being the ®"®' 
most solemn way of praising God for him by whom she 
received both the present, and all other God's mercies 
towards her: and a means also to bind herself more 
strictly to spend those days in his service^ which, by 
this late deliverance, he hath added to her life. 

♦ In the American Liturgy the rubric directs what disposition is (o 
be made of these •* accustomed offerings," They " shall be applied 
by the Minister and the Church- Wardens to the relief of distressed 
Women in Child-bed."— wJtm. Ed, 

47 Malachi iii. 8. 48 Leyiticui xii. 6, &«. 

Vvv 



54^ Of the Commiiialmu 

CHAP. XIV. 
OF THE COx^lMINA^TION* 

The Intiioduction. 

^on a^T^* The Preface which the Church has prefixed to this 
Design of office will sijpplj the room of an Introduction. It in- 
ihis office, forms us, that in the primitive Church there was a godly 
Discipline ; that at the beginning of Lent such persons as 
stood convicted of notorious sins were put to open penance, 
and punished in this world^ that their souls might he saved 
in the day of the Lord ; and that others, admonished by 
their example, might be the more afraid to offend. How 
and in what manner this discipline was inflicted, I have 
formerly had occasion to shovv"*^: so that 1 have noth- 
ing farther to observe in this place, than that it was an- 
ciently exercised in our own as well as in foreign Chur- 
ches^'*. But in latter ages, during the corruption of 
the Church of Rome, this godly discipline degenerated 
into a formal and customary Confession upon Ash' Wed- 
nesdays, used by all persons indifferently, whether peni- 
tents or not, from whom no other testimony of their re- 
pentance was required, than that they should submit to 
the empty ceremony of sprinkling Ashes upon their 
heads. But this our wise Reformers prudently laid 
aside as a mere shadow and show; and not without 
hearty grief and concern, that the long continuance of 
the abominable corruptions of the Romish Church, in 
their formal Confessions and pretended Absolutions, in 
their Sale of Indulgences, and their sordid Commuta- 
tions of Penance for Money, had let the people loose 
from those prmiitive bands of discipline, which tended 
really to their amendment, but to which, through the 
rigour and severity it enjoins, they found it impractica- 

* This office is omitted in the American Prayer Book; excepting 
that in the service for Ash Wednesday the two concluding collects 
and the general supplication are appointed to be said "at Morning 
Prayer, the Litany being ended, immediately before the general 
thanksgiving."— .^m,. Kd» 

49 Chap. V. Sect. XI. J. 2. p. 233. 50 Canones R. Edgar, A. D. 

96 r. ap. Spelm. tom» i. p. 460. 



Of the Commination* 547 

ble to reduce them again. However, since they could 'ntrf^f^uct. 
not do what they desired, they desired to do as much as "■" 
they could : and therefore till the said discipline may 
be restored again, (which is rather to be wished than 
expected in these licentious times,) they have endea- 
voured to supply it as well as they were able, by ap- 
pointing an office to be used at this season, called A 
CoMMiNATiON, or Deuouncmg ofGodh Anger and Judg^ 
merits against Sinners : that so the people being apprised 
of God's wrath and indignation against their wickedness 
and sins, may not be encouraged, through the want of 
discipline in the Church, to follow and pursue them: 
but be moved, by the terror of the dreadful judgments 
of God, to supply that discipline to themselves, and so; 
to avoid being judged and condemned at the tribunal of 
God. 

§. 2. But besides the first day of Lent ^ on vvhich it is 
expressly enjoined, it is also supposed in the title of it to 
be used at other times^ as the Ordinary shall direct. This 
was occasioned hy the observation of Bucer : for it was 
originally ordered upon Ash-Wednesdays only; and 
therefore in the first Common Prayer Book, it had no 
other title but, The first day of Lent ^ commonly called 
Ash' Wednesday, But Bucer approving of the office,- 
and not seeing reason why it should be confined to one 
day, and not used oftener? at least four times a year^\ 
the title of it was altered when it came to be reviewed ; 
from which tinje it was called, A Commination against 
Sinners^ with certain Prayers to be used diverse times in the 
Year, How often, or at what particular times, we do 
not find prescribed ; except that Bishop Cosin informs 
us from the Visitation Articles of Archbishop Grindal 
for the province of Canterbury in the year 1 576, that it 
was appointed three times a year ; viz, on one of the 
three Sundays next before Easter, on one of the two 
Sundays next before Pentecost, and on one of the two 
Sundays next before Christmas*^ ; i. e. I suppose the Of- 
fice was appointed yearly to be used on these three 
days, as well as on Ash' Wednesday, For that Ash-Wed- 
nesday was then the solemn day of all, and on which 
this office was never to be omitted, may be gathered 
from the Preface, which is drawn up for the peculiar 
use of that day. And accordingly, we find that in the 

51 Bucer. Script. Anglican, p. 491. 

5i See Dr. Nichols's additional Notes, p. 66. 



548 Of the Commination, 

Cbap.XIV. Scotch Common Prajer a clause was added, that it was 
" to be used especially on the first day of Lent, commonly 

called Ash' Wednesday. However, in our own Liturgy, 
the title stood as above, till the last review, when a 
clause was added for the sake of explaining the word 
Commination ; and the appointing of the times, on which 
it should be used, left to the discretion of the Bishop, or 
the ordinary. So that the whole title, as it stands now, 
runs thus: A Commination, or Denouncing oj God'^s An" 
ger and Judgments against Sinners, mth certain Prayers to 
be ustd on the first day of Lent, and at other times, as the 
Ordinary shall appoint. The Ordinaries indeed seldom 
or never make use of the power here given them, except 
that sometimes they appoint part of the office, viz. from 
the fifty-first Psalm to the end, to be used upon solemn 
days of fasting and humiliation. But as to the whole 
office, it is never used entirely but upon the day men» 
tioned in the title Qiit,viz. The first day o/Lent. 

Sect. I. Of the Rubric before the Office. 

This Office 1 HIS rubric was, in all our former Common Prayer 
to be said Books, expressed a little differently from what it is now : 
after the jj'i(>r Moming Prayer, the People being called together by 
ended. ^^^ ringing of a Bell, and assembled in the Church, the 
English Litany shall be said after the accustomed manner ; 
which ended, the Priest shall go into the Pulpit, and say 
thus, l^the People sitting and attending with rcrcrertce^.] 
This 1 have formerly had occasion to show was owing 
to the Litany's being a distinct service by itselif, and so 
used sometimes after Morning Prayer was over". But 
it now being made one office with the Morning Prayer, 
and so both of them read at one and the same time, the 
rubric only directs, that after Morning Prayer, the Lita- 
ny ended according to the accustomed manner, this office 
shall ensue ; i. e. after the whole Litany has been con- 
cluded as usual, with The general Thanksgiving, the 



* The words within the crotchets [ ] were only in the 
Scotch Liturgy. 



53 See Chap, IV. Introduction, K S. p. 174. 



Of the Commination* 549 

Prayer of St. Chry.tostom, and The Grace of our Lord, Sect. I. 
^c, and not (as 1 havp observed some to bring it in) im- 
mediately after the Collect, We humbly beseech thee,, O 
Father, <^c. For till the three fore-mentioned prayers The Lita- 
have all of them been used, the Litany is not ended ac- "^^ ^Jj^*^ 
cording to the accustomed manner. For the Thanksgiving ended, 
being to be used before the iroo final prayers of the Lita- 
ny, must certainly make a part of the Litany. And if 
the prayer of St. Chrysostom, and The Grace of our Lord, 
^c. be the two final prayers of that office, then sure this 
office cannot be concluded without them. But what I 
think clearly puts this matter out of doubt, are four 
words that immediately follow The Grace of our Lord, 
ire viz. Here endeth the Litany ; from whence, one would 
jthink, any man might conclude that it is not ended be- 
fore. 

§ 2. The name of a Reading-Pew was never mentioned To be said 
in our Liturgy till the last review, (the reason of which r^^j^ „ 
1 have largely given before^^;) for by this rubric, till pew or" 
the Restoration, the Priest was to go into the Pulpit, and Pulpit; 
say the following Preface and Exhortation. And in- 
deed that is a place not improper for the office, since 
the Denouncing of God'' s Judgments is as it were Preach- 
ing of his word. And it is certain that the Pulpit was 
at first designed, not only for Preaching, but for any 
thing else that tended to the edification of the people. 
There the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Com- 
mandments, were formerly appointed to be read to the 
people in English on every Holy -day in the year, when 
there was no Sermon to hinder it": and there also at 
the beginning of the Reformation, whilst the Romish 
Mass was continued till the English Liturgy could be 
prepared, the Epistle and Gospel for the day, with a 
Lesson out of the New Testament in the Morning, and 
another out of the Old Testament in the Afternoon, was 
read to the people in the English tongue^^. However, 
Reading-Pews having been generally brought into use 
before the Restoration, it was not then thought proper 
to confine the use of this office any longer to the Pulpit, 
but to allow it to be said as the Minister should think 
proper, either there or in the Reading- Pew. 

54 See Chap. 11. Sect. V. page tion, p. 3. and Injunctions of 
111, &c. Queen Elizabeth, ibid, p 68. 

55 Injunctions of King Edward 56 King Edward's Injunctions, 
yi. in Bishop Sparrow's Collec- ibid, page 7, 8. 



55© Of the Commination, 



Sect. II. Of the Preface^ Denunciation^ or Application^ 

^ ^' I. 1 O bring the minds of the congregation into a seri- 
The Pre- ^"^ composure, the office is introduced with a grave and 
face. solemn Preface; by which the Church informs them, 

in the first place, of the ancient discipline, and then pro- 
poses to them the best means to supply it. The ancient 
discipline, she tells them, was to put those to open shame, 
•who by any notorious sins had given public scandal and 
offence. By which means both the souls of those that 
sinned were often rescued from damnation, and others 
also, being admonished by their example, were deterred 
from incurring the same danger or punishment. But as 
this discipline is now lost through the degeneracy of the 
times, and even beyond retrieval as affairs stand now, 
she proposes that the congregation would supply it to 
themselves, by hearing the Curses which God has de- 
nounced against impenitent Sinners; by which means, 
as in a glass, each one will be able to discern his own 
Sins, and the Curses he is exposed to ; the serious pros- 
pect of which will be apt to awaken them from their 
thoughtlessness and security, and to put them upon fly- 
ing from such imminent danger, by having recourse to 
a speedy repentance. 
The Sen- !!• The original of repeating the Curses, in the man- 
tences. ncr we now use them, was a positive and divine institu- 
tion, which twice enjoined it by Moses% and in obedi- 
ence to which we find Joshua afterwards most religious- 
ly observed it*^ And Josephus also reckons it amongst 
those things whiph the Jews always used to perform*^ 
And though the circumstances in the Jewish manner of 
reciting these Curses were purely ceremonial, yet 
doubtless the end for which this duty was prescribed 
was truly moral. For to publish the equity and truth 
of God, and to profess our belief that his laws are righ- 
teous, and the sanctions thereof just and certain, is an 
excellent means of glorifying God, and a proper meth- 
od for converting of sinners. So that it cannot be unfit 
for the Gospel-times, nor at all unsuitable to our Chris- 
tian worship ; especially when the necessities of the 
Church require the sinner should be warned and brought 
to repentance. Christ indeed hath taken away the 

57 Deuf» xi, 29. and chap. 58 Joshua viii. 33. 
xxvii. 59 Autiq, ]. iv« c. ult. 



Of the Commination, 551 

Curse of the Law, by being himself made a Curse for Sect. If. 
«s®° : but this is only with respect to those that truly re- ~ 
pent ; for as to all others the Curse stands in full force 
still. It is therefore fit, that all should declare their be- 
lief of the truth and reasonableness of these Curses: 
the good man, to own what his sins had deserved, and 
to acknowledge his obligation to our Lord<«for redeem- 
ing him ; the bad man, to awaken him fron^ his security 
and ease, and to bring him to repentance before it be 
too late. 

§. 2. For this reason all the People^ as those sentences Amen, 
are read, are to answer and say^ at the end of each of ^^^^** ^!^° 
them, Amen. The end of which is not that the people end of 
should curse themselves and their neighbours, as some these Sen- 
have foolishly imagined ; but only that they should ac- fences, 
knowledge they have deserved a Curse. For it is not 
here said. Cursed be he, or may he be cursed; but cursed 
is he, or he is cursed, that is guilty of any of these sins. 
And consequently any one that answers Amen^ does not 
signify his desire, that the thing may be so, as he does 
when he says Amen to a Prayer; but only signifies his 
assent to the truth of what is afiirmed, as he does when 
he says Amen to the Creed. It is used in this place in 
ho other sense, than it is in several parts of the New 
Testament, where it is translated Verily^ and signifies no 
inore than Verily it is true. The man that says it, veri- 
ly believes, that Idolaters, and all those other kinds of '^ 
sinners that are mentioned in these sentences, are all ex- 
posed to the Curse of God ; and his believing this is the 
cause of his repentance^ and begging pardon for his 
sins ; since he must be a desperate sinner indeed, that 
■will not fly from such vices, for which he affirms with 
his own mouth so great and heavy a Judgment to he 
due. In short, these Curses, and the Answers that are 
made to them, are like our Saviour's Woes in the Gos- 
pel ; not the causes or procurers of the evil they de- 
nounce; but compassionate predictions of it in order to 
prevent it. And one would indeed think, when we con- 
sider, that this manner of answering was originally ap- 
pointed by God himself, people should be cautious how 
they charge it with being a wicked or foolish institution. 
But to proceed. 

III. Having heard to what Sins the Curse of God isTheAppH- 
due, the Church has too much reason to conclude, that*'^^'^"- 

60 Cral. iii. 13. 



552 Of the Commination, 

Chap.XIV. we are all of us guilty of more or fewer of them, and 
- consequently all of us in clanger of God's wrath, except 
we repent. To excite us therefore to so necessary a 
duty, that so we may escape those dreadful Judgments, 
she hath collected a pious and pathetical Discourse, to 
set home the foregoing denunciations to our conscience. 
It is all of it gathered from the holy Scriptures, that it 
may be more regarded, as coming directly from the 
word of God; and is so meth >dical and apt to the oc- 
casion, that the fault must be in the hearers, if the deliv- 
ery of it be not attended with a happy effect* 



Sect. III. Of the Penitential Devotions, 

Psalm li. I. After so serious and rational a discourse, the 
Church may justly suppose that we are all resolved to 
repent ; and therefore, to assist us in so necessary a du- 
ty, she hath prepared such Penitential Devotions, as will 
be very suitable to our pious resolutions : and thut they 
may be said with a greater humiliation and reverence, 
all the People are to knetl upon their knees, and the Priests 
and Clerks to kneel in the place where they are accustomed 
to say the LitUny^^. And here they are to begin with 
David's Litany, viz. Psalm li. the most solemn and pen- 
itential one of all that he composed. 
TheLord's II. After this follow the lesser Litany, the Lord's 
Prayer, &c. Prayer and Suffrages, of which we have often spoke be-» 

fore. 
Thefisrt HI. And because the Minister may know it to be time 

Collect. to bind up the wounds of true Penitents, he in the next 
place addresses himself solemnly to God for their par- 
don and forgiveness. 
The second IV. And knowing also that now he cannot well be 
Collect. too importunate, he subjoins a second Collect to the 
first ; the more pathetically to press our most merci- 
ful Father, by phrases well suited to the desires of Pen- 
itents, and mostl}^ selected from holy Scripture. 
the ''ene- ^' And the people being now prepared and revived 
nil Suppli- by these importunate addresses, are allowed to open 
catioD, their lips for themselves, and to plead for their own par- 
don in so moving a form, that if it be presented with a 
suitable devotion, it cannot miss of prevailing ; but will 
admirably fit them for 

61 See Cliap. IV. page 172. 



Of the Comminatton* 56& 

VI. The following Blessing*, which, being to be pro- Sect. III. 
ttounced in the name of God, is taken from a form of 
his own prescribing^^ : so that all who are prepared to J^^ ^^"' 
receive its benefit must humbly kneel, and firmly be- 
lieve, that he who prescribed it will be sure to confirm 
it to their infinite advantage and endless comfort. 



THE PSALMS OF DAViD 

Follow in our common Prayer Book, next after 
the Commi nation: but of these I have formerly said as 
much as, 1 think, the nature of this work requires''^: I 
have therefore no occasion to say any thing of them 
here, nor do I apprehend that there is any need for my 
enlarging upon the 

FORMS OF PRAYER to be used at SEA, 

Which were first added at the last review, but not 
designed for a complete office, nor comprised in any 
particular method; but are all of them (except the two 
first alone, which are daily to be used in his Majesty^s 
J^avy) occasional forms, to be used as the circumstances 
of their affairs require ; and are so very well adapted to 
their several occasions, that any one that observes them 
will see their suitableness without any illustration. 



[a form of PRAYER foT the 

VISITATION or PRISONERS. 

1 HIS form which in the American Prayer Books im- 
mediately follows the forms of Pra^^er to be used at sea, 
is not in the English, but was taken from the Irish Com- 
mon Prayer Book, to which it was annexed in the reign 
of Queen Anne. It was originally entitled a Form of 
Prayer for the visitation of Prisoners, treated upon by 

* Added at the last review. 



■^ Nambers vi. 24. 63 Chap, HL rScct, IX, p. 134, Iccj 



554 



Of the Form of Prcnjtr fur 



Chap. XV. the Arch Bishops and Bishops and the rest of the cler- 
gy of Ireland, and agreed upon by her Majesty's Li- 
cense in their Synod holdcn at Dublin in the year 17 »1. 
It was ordered to be printed and annexed to the Book 
of Common Prayer by the Lord Lieutenant and Coun- 
cil of Ireland in 1714. The alterations in the Ameri- 
can, from the Irish service are very few« The most 
important are, the omission of the last two verses of the 
.^Ist Psalm, as being inapplicable to the occasion ; and 
the following alteration of the rubrirk after the confes- 
sjon of a criminal under sentence of death: 



ENGLISH. 

After his confession, the 
Priest shall absolve him (if 
he humbly or heartily de- 
sire) either in the form 
Vv'hich is appointed in the 
office of Visitation of the 
sick, or in that used in the 
Communion service. 

After absolution, shall be 
said the Collect following : 

O Holy Jesus, &c. 



AMERICAN, 

After his confession, the 
Minister shall declare to 
him the pardoning mercy 
of God, in the form which 
is used in the Communion 
service. 

After which shall be said 
the Collect following : 

O Holy Jesus, fee. 

Am. jEd] 



CHAP. XY. 

Of the Form of Prayer for the Fifth of 
KOVEMBER. 

The Introduction. 

1 HE Occasions and Reasons of the observation of 
this and the following days are so well known to all that 
have any knowledge in the affairs of this nation, that it 
would be needless to repeat the several histories of them 
here. 

And the suitableness of the Prayers appointed on 
these occasions is so apparent of itself, that i think no- 
thing farther needful, even in relation to the offices, 
than to give a short account of the Hymns, and Psalms, 



the Fifth of November, 555 

and Lessons, and of the Epistles and Gospels, by shovr- Introducf. 
ing in wiuit sense they are applicable to their days. And ^' 
in treatiiig of thrm I shall consider our present forms 
cniy, wiihout noting how they differ or vary from the 
former, except where there is something remarkable in 
the alteration. For the Common Prayers that were 
primed l»efore the Revolution (at which time the chief 
of the alterations in these were made) being as yet in 
many hands, it is easy for the readers to turn to and 
observe them, wiihout my swelling these sheets with 
them here. I shall therefore immediately begin with 
the present office for the Ftftli of November, 

Of the Sentences, Hymns, Psalms, Lessonsy Epistle^ 
and Gospel. 

I. Instead of the ordinary Sentences before the Ex- The Sen- 
h()rtafion, are three verses taken out of the hundred fences, 
and thn'd Psalm®'', declaring the long-suffering and good- 
ness of God, the short contmuance of his anger, and his 
nr rcy in not dealing with us according to our sins: all 
oi them attributes we cannot help reflecting on when we 
look back on the signal mercies of this day. 

II. And the Hymn that is appointed instead of the TheHjmn. 
Venule Exnllemus is so methodically put together, that 
it seems, as it stands in this place, to be an entire Psalm 
composed on purpose for the day. It begins with an 
act of praise to God for his gracious nature and provi- 
dence over us®^ and then particularly commemorates 
our enemie> attempts, and how providentially they were 
entrapped in the works of their own hands®®: upon this 
it breaks out into an humble acknowledgfment of the 
Power, and Wisdom, and Justice of God% and at last 
concludes with a prayer for the Governor whom he 
hath set over us, and a promise ot fidelity to God for 
the future. The whole was added in the second year 
of King William and Queen Mary, when this office was 
very much altered and enlarged, upon the account of 
the Revolution. At which time also the foregoing Sen- 
tences were inserted in the room of others that had been 
used till then®^ 

64 Verse 8, 9, 10. 67 Verse 7, 8. 

65 Verse 1,2. 68 Viz. Psalm 11. 9, Jor. x. 24. 

66 Verse 9, 3, 4, 5, 6. Luke xx. 18, 19.. 



b5& 



Of the Form of Prayer for 



Chap. XV 

Thf 
Paalms. 
Psalm Ixiv. 



Ps. cxxiv. 



Pb. 



cxxv. 



Lessons 
The first. 



The 
second, 



III. The proper Psalms are Psalm Ixiv. cxxiv. cxxv. 
The Ixivth was a prayer which David made for deliv- 
erance from his enemies, when they were secretly plot- 
ting and conspiring against him ; but which he foretold 
should be signally disappointed through their own unto- 
ward contrivance and device. 

§. 2, The cxxivth Psalm is an acknowledgment of 
God's assistance, and a thankful commemoration of the 
deliverances wrought by him. It was occasioned, as 
some think, by the victory in Rephaim®^ or, as others, 
by David's deliverance from Absalom : though all agree 
it was composed on the account of some signal deliver- 
ance from some potent enemy. 

§. 3, The cxxvth declares the safety of those who 
firmly adhere to God, without seeking to any irregular 
means for attaining it. It is appointed on this day, to 
remind us of the providential care of God, in frustrating 
the designs of the enemies of our Church, even before 
they were sensible of their being so much as in danger 
from them. Till the second year of King William and 
Queen Mary, the cxxixth Psalm was used instead of this, 
and the xxxvth was used first of all, which is now dis- 
continued. 

IV, The proper Lessojis are 2 Samuel xxii. and Acts 
xxiii. The first is David's Psalm of Praise^^, composed 
upon his deliverance from the hands of his enemies, es* 
pecially of Saul, who sought, by murdering him, to cut 
ofTthe succession God had entailed on his family. The 
words are so applicable to the present occasion, that 
they explain themselves to an attentive hearer. 

§. 2. The history contained in the second Lesson 
agrees ivith the Treason commemorated on this day in 
some particulars, l>ut falls short of it in others. There 
we find a crew of desperate zealots enraged at St. Paul, 
for persuading them to reform the corrupt traditions of 
their forefathers, and binding themselves in a bloody 
vow, to murder him as he went to the hall of Judgment. 
Thus far the stories agree; but in what is behind they 
widely differ. St. Paul was only a private man, and 
their fellow-subject, and so they aimed at a single sac- 
rifice to their fury and rage ; whereas the conspirators 
concerned in the story of this day aimed at their own 
indulgent Sovereign, and the whole nation in represent 



,69 2 Sam. v. 17, &.^. 



1*0 Psalm xviii. 



I the Thirtieth of January » 55f 

iatiye ; seeming to copy after Caligula's wish, viz. that Sect. |^ 
all the people of Rome might have but one neck, that ~ " ' . 
so he might cut ihem off at a stroke. As the whole 
Scripture therefore affords no parallel of such cruel and 
blood-thirsty men. we must be content with an instance 
something like it, though in a far lower degree. 

V. The Epistle" is designed to remind the people ofTheEpi^- 
their allegiance to their Sovereign : the GospeF*, which ^^ ^°^ 
was appointed in the second year of King William, in- ^^^^ * 
stead of the story of Judas betraying his Master'', which 
for some good reasons, I suppose, was then thought pro- 
per to be discontinued, is intended to correct the unruly 
effects of mistaken zeal for our relisjion; shewing us 
that our faith, be it ever so true, cannot warrant us to 
persecute or destroy those of different persuasions. 



W^ 



CHAP. XVI. 



Of the Form of Prayer for the THIRTI- 
ETH 0/ J V^lUARY, 

Sect. I. Of the Rubrics, 

JT having never been the practice of the Catholic The Ru 
Church, nor indeed of any part of it, except the Roman, *^"<^^» 
and that which has too many marks of its parent,the Pres- 
byterian Church in Scotland''*, to allow of Humiliation 
or Fasting on Sundays, which are appointed for duties _ ^ , 
of a different nature ; it is ordered, that If this day shall 
happen to be Sunday^ this Form of Prayer shall be used^ and 
the Fast kept the next day following. And upon the Lord's 
day next before the day to be kept^ (i. e on whatever day 
of the week it shall happen,) at Morning Prayer ^immedi- 
ately after the Mictne Creeds notice shall be given for the 
due observation of the said day, 

II. As to the Service of this day^ (like that appointed The se- 
for the Fifth of November,) it is to be the same with the^^^ ' ' 
iisual office for Holydays in all things^ except where it is in 

71 Rom. xiii. 1—8. 74 Clergyman's Vade Mecum, 

72 Luke ix. 51—57. p. 182. 

73 Matt, xxvii. 1—10. 



558 



Of the Form of Prayer for 



.Chap.XVT. ihis office otherwise appointed; i. e. the ordinary Morn- 
""' ing and Evening Service, and office for the Communion, 

are to be said as usual, except where any thing in either 
of these services is to be added to, or to be used in the 
room of, the ordinary service for the day : as the Col- 
lects, for instance, and the several Prayers appointed 
on these occasions, are to be used either instead of, or 
besides, the prayers daily in use; and the Hvmn, 
Psalms, and Lessons, the Epistle and Gospel, instead of 
those in ordinary course. 

Sect. II. Of the Sentences, Hymn, Psalms, Lessons, E^nsf 
tie, and Gospel, 



Thft Sen- 
tences. 

The 
Hyran, 



The 
Psalms. 
Psalra ix. 



Pa-aloi X, 



I. 1 HE office is introduced with some of the usual 
Sentences at Morning Prayer^^ 

II. The Hymn, instead of the xcvth Psalm, was drawn 
up in the reign of King James II. when a review was 
taken, and several alterations made in this office. And 
whoever looks into King Charles's book, must acknow- 
ledge the old Hymn not to be near so fine as the new 
one, whieh is as solemn a composure, and as pertment 
to the occasion, as can be imagined or contrived. 

HI. The proper Psalms appointed for the Morning 
are Psalms ix. x. xi. The viith was originally prefixed 
to them all, but that was afterwards discontinued. The 
first of those that are now appointed was wrote upon 
Goliath's death, and was designed for David^s victory 
over the Philistines : and though the chief end of this 
day's solemnity is to bewail our sins, which were the 
occasion of the late bloody and dismal times; yet when 
we recollect how happily we were at last delivered frum 
them, and how remarkably God's Justice was executed 
on the enemies of our David, we cannot forbear inter- 
mingling a thanksgiving to praise the divine Majesty for 
so wonderful a work. 

§. 2. The xth Psalm, wanting a title, was by the He- 
brews anciently, and by the Vulgar Latin is still, joined 
to the former: but though it be on a like subject, yet 
there is a plain difference between them. The ixth 
Psalm speaks of Pagan enemies, whose cruelty was end- 
ed some time before, and is therefore fuller of praises ; 
whereas this Psalm speaks of domestic foes^ whp, still 



I'S Dart. jx. !?, 10. Jer. x. 24. Psalm cxliiK 



the Thirtieth of January* 5.5^ 

-acted unjustly, and so abounds more with prayers and ^^^^' ^^• 
complaints proper to be used on this day. — . 

§. 3. The xith Psaim is a declaration of David's full Psalm xi. 
confidence and trust in God, in despite of all discourage- 
ments, and is very applicable to our royal Martyr un- 
der his sufferings. 

I v. The first Lesson for the Morning is 2 Samuel i, J^^ fi""** 
Thtre is no parallel for this inhuman and barbarous "*°"' 
murder of a gjood and pious King by his own subjects in 
all the Old Testament : and therefore the Church is con- 
tent to read the history of David's justice and vengeance 
upon the Amalekite, tHat accused him of killing King 
Saul, though at his own request, to ease him of his pain ; 
and of David's own decent mourning for his sovereign, 
notwithstanding he had been always his mortal enemy, 
had apostatized from God, and was forsaken by heaven. 
How much more reason then had our state to punish 
those impious rebels, who murdered the best of Kings, 
only for adhering to the best of religions ; and also to 
set apart a day of humiliation for Fasting and Prayer, 
and to draw up a mournful office for the occasion, after 
the example of David in the Lesson ! 

§. 2. As for the second Lesson, it is no other than that The sc* 
appouited by the Church in the ordinary course, to be cond h^sr 
read on the thirtieth of January^^ For by a signal ^°^' 
providence the bloody Rebels chose that day for mur- 
dering their King, on which the history of our Saviour's 
Sufferings was appointed to be read as a Lesson for the 
day. The blessed Martyr had forgot that it came in 
the ordinary course ; and therefore when Bishop Juxon 
(who read the Morning office immediately before his 
Martyrdom) named this chapter, the good Prince asked 
him, if he had singled it out as fit for the occasion ; and 
when he was informed it was the Lesson for the day, 
could not without a sensible complacency and joy ad- 
mire how suitably' it concurred with his circumstances : 
betrayed by some, denied by others, and despised by 
the rest of his seeming friends, who left him to the im- 
placable malice of his barbarous enemies ; who treated 
him with the same contempt and ingratitude, outrage 
and cruelty, with which the Jews treated their King and 
Saviour; while he followed the steps of his great Mas- 
ter in meekness and patience, piety to God, and charity 
to men, and at last praying for his murderers. 

76 Matt. xxTJi. to (he end, 



560 Of the. Form of Prayer for 

Ifehap.XVI. V. The Epistle^^ shows the duty which Christians owe 
^ r to Magistrates ; the GospeF* severely and justly up- 
tle^and*^* braids those unparalleled rebels, who were the villain- 
Gospel, ous projectors of this days tragedy. Jt calls to our 
mind the care and diligence of the poor good King,, 
who, when he had omitted nothing for the quiet and 
safety of his kingdoms, had the misfortune to commit 
the administration of the government into such hands, as 
made use of the power he had entrusted with them, to 
deny him the rights and prerogatives of his crown; re- 
jecting his commissioners, slaying his servants, seizing 
his crown, murdering his person, banishing his heir, and 
usurping his kingdom. 
ThePsalms VJ. The Psalms for the Evening service are different 
^r the j^Q^y from what they were when the office was compos- 
^ *" "^^' ed^^ ; at present they are the Ixxixth, xcivth, and 
Psal.Ixxix. jxxxvth. The Ixxixth Psalm contains a lively descrip- 
tion of the miseries of Jerusalem, upon the sacking of it 
by the King of Babylon ; and is very applicable to our 
sad condition during the Rebellion : only the Jews suf- 
fered by Heathens, we by men whose behaviour was 
"worse than Heathenish, while they called themselves 
Christians. 
Psal. xcir, §• 2. The xcivth Psalm is a prayer to God, and a con- 
fident assurance in him, that he will dissipate the at- 
tempts of wicked men. and uphold the righteous. 
PsjajxxxT. §. 3. The Ixxxvth Psalm is appointed with respect to 
that happy change at the Restoration, and is for that 
reason placed out of its usual order; it containing an 
acknowledgment of God's mercy in delivering the land 
from those sad calaraitieSi and a prayer for a continu- 
ance of it in prosperity hereafter. 
The first VII. For the first Lesson is appointed a choice of two 
Lcseou. chapters for variety : one of wh ch'*^ is Jeremiah's com» 
plaint to God of great mischiets done in Church and 
State by false prophets and tyrannical rulers, with God's 
answer, giving the reason of his permitting it, and threa- 
tening withal, in due time, to punish the authors of these 
mischiefs, and to deliver the righteous. 

§. 2. The other is out of Daniel", being an excellent 
prayer, which that holy man used on a day that he hadf 

77 I Peter ii. 13—23. 80 Jeremiah xii. 

78 Matt, xxi, 33—42. 81 Daniel ix. 1—1?, 
'^9 Viz. Psalm xxxviii. Ixiv, and 

Gxliij. 



son. 



the Twtnly'Kinlh of May. 561 

set apart to solemn humiliation, fasting, and repentance ; Sect. I, 
wherein he so efiectually bewailed the sins and suffer- ' 
ings of God's people, that he prevailed vvilh God to re- 
store them to their liberty, and to the exercise of their 
religion. Which justly reminds us of the prayers and 
penitence of devout men under those usurpers, which at 
lasL had the same effect with us. 

§. 3. The second Losson^^ sets before us the faith and The se- 
patience of the holy Martyrs, whom St. Paul records, ^^^^^ ^*^ 
and is very proper as a commemoration of our Royal 
Martyrs sufferings and faith, and an exhortation to us 
to imitate them, whensoever it shall please God to re- 
quire it of us. In the old G'Ulican Lituri^y (his was the 
proper Lesson for the festival of any M3.ny\^^, 



CHAP. XVII. 

Of the Form of Prayer for the TWENTY- 

NINTH of MAY. 

Sect. I. Of the Rubrics, 

±0 the end (saith the Act of Parliament, by which this The first 
day is appointed) that all persons may be put in mind of Rubric. 
the duty thereon, and be better prepared to discharge 
the same with that piety and devotion as becomes them ; 
the Act of Parliament made in the twelfth, and confirmed The Act to 
iri the thirteenth year of King Charles the Second^ for the be read, 
observation of the twenty-ninth day of May yearly^ as a day and notice 
of public Thanksgivings is to be read publicly in all Chur- f^^ t^e ob- 
ches at Morning Prayer, immediately after the Kicene servationof 
Creeds on the Lord^s day next before every such twenty- ^^^ ^^J* 
ninth of May, and notice to be given for the due observation 
of the said day. So also the Act for the observation of 
the Fifth of J^ovember is appointed lo be read, by that 
Act itself, publicly in the Church after Morning Prayer 
or Preaching on the said day. 

And yet it is remarkable, that though both these Acts, By what 
together with the Act for the thirtieth of January, ap- t^"*^°"l^ 

88 ifeb. si, 32. to chap. xii. 7. 83 Vide Mabillon, Lit. Gallic, lib. e ijoined, 

2i pag. 160. 
Yvy 



662 Of the Form of Prayer for 

Ghap. point these several days to be solemnly observed, and 
both suppose and enact that proper prayers and praises 



shall be used on those days; yet not one of them pro- 
vides for or establishes any ollice for the use of either 
one or other of the said days: nor have our Kings, by 
whose order and directions alone these several offices 
are printed and annexed to the Book of Common Pray- 
er, and appointed to be used on their respective days, 
any power or authority invested in them by King 
Charles IPs Jlct of Uniformily^ to establish or enjoin any 
other form than what is provided in the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, or to do any thing else in relation to that 
book, than to alter and change from lime to time the names 
of the King^Queen^ and Royal Progeny, So that it might be 
very well questioned, whether these, or any other occa- 
sional offices put out by the same order, could safely be 
used, were it not for the general connivance, or rather 
concurrence of the two other parts of the legislative au- 
thority, the Lords and Commons, who, if sitting, are 
always present at the performance of such offices, and 
frequently address the King to order them®*. 
The rubric II. The second rubric has already been spoken to in 
ofdirec- [^g foregoing chapter; but because this festival falls in 

!'°"f: ^^*u' such a time of the year, as that it often happens to con- 
reading this «/ ' XT I 1 I • l" . 

office npon CUT With some Other great Holy-day, which has a pro- 
other Holy- per service appointed for itself; therefore here is a third 
days. rubric of directions in this case, that whenever such 

concurrence shall happen, the preference shall be given 
tQ that other Holy-day, and so much of this office as in- 
terferes with the service proper for that day shall be 
omitted. Thus, for instance, it is said in the rubric, If 
this day shall happen to be Ascension-day, or Whit-Sunday, 
the Collects of this office (i. e. all the prayers of it, for all 
Prayers are called Collects both in the rubrics of this 
and all other offices) are to be added to the office of those 
festivals in their proper places ; — and the rest of this office 
shall be omitted; i.e. the Psalms, Lessons, Epistle, and 
Gospel, because both those days have proper Psalms, 
Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels of their own. And that 
only the portions of Scripture appointed for this day are 
to be omitted upon this occasion, is plain, because if this 
day happens to be Monday or Tuesday in Whitsun- 



?A See this proved at large by Mr. Johnson in his Case of Occasion- 
al Days r.nd rrftjcrs. 



the Twenty-Ninth of May, 503 

Week, or Trinity-Sunday, (which have no proper Sect. 11. 
Psahns,) then the Proper Psalms here appointed for this ^' 

day, instead of those of ordinary cowrie, shall he also used. 
And because none of the days mentioned in the rubric 
have any peculiar hymn instead of the Venite Exullemus, 
therefore the rubric orders, that what festival soever shall 
happen to fall upon this solemn day of Thanks (riving^ the 
following hymn appointed instead of Venite Exult emus 
shall be constantly used. The only question then remain- 
ing is, whether the Litany ought to be used if this day 
happens to be Ascension-day, or Monday or Tuesday 
in Whitsun-Week, (for upon Whit-Sunda}'^ and Trinity- 
Sunday it is used of course.) And to this, I think, the 
answer is plain, viz. That the Litany does not interfere 
with any part of the service appointed for any of thoso 
days ; and therefore it should be read (as it is enjoined 
by this office) for the greater solemnity of this day. 
Besides, whatever festival happens to fall upon this day<^ 
the Collects of this office are to be added to the office of such 
festival in their proper places : now one of the collects or 
prayers of this office is to be said in the end of the Litany^ 
after the Collect, We humbly beseech thee, (J Father, ^c. 
Unless therefore the Litanj' be read, and that collect 
used, one of the collects of this office cannot be added 
in Its proper place. But one would think there should be 
no room for any doubt in this matter, when it is said so 
expressly in the rubric, that the Litany shall always this 
dc^y be used j to imply, undoubtedly, that though it hap- 
pen upon a day, on which otherwise the Litany is not 
to be used, yet it shall be added on purpose on this oc- 
casion. 

Sect. II. Of the Sentences, Hymn, Psalms, Lessons, 
EpistlCf and Gospel. 

I, r OR the Sentences are appointed one of the ordina- The Sen.- 
ry Sentences at Morning Service, (being Daniel's con- tenets, 
fession of his people's transgression, and of God's mercy 
notwithstanding",) and an additional one out of the book 
of Lamentations^*^, ascribing our preservation wholly to 
the mercy and compassion of God. 

II. The following Hymn, which was new drawn up ^^^^ 
in King James IPs reign, in the room of another that Hymn, 

85 Daniel ix. 9, 10. 86 Chap. iii. 22.. 



564 



Of the Form of Prayer for 



Chap. 
XVff, 

T})e 



Ts. 



Ps. cxviii. 



The first 
Lesson. 



had been used before, is sufficiently plain and applicable 
_ to the day. without any couiment. 

Ill, The proper Psalms, till King James's reign, were 
the xxth, xxist, Ixxxvth, and cxviiith. But now they 
are the cxxivth, cxxvith, cxxixth, and cxviiith. The 
, first of these hath been already spoken t ^ in the office 
for th^ Fifth of jN'ovember, It may very properly be 
repiated here ; since the Papists and Sectaries, like 
Sampson's foxes, though they look contrary ways, do 
yet both join in carrying fire to destroy us : their end 
is the same, though the method be dilfej-ent. 

§. 2* The cxxviih Psalm celebrates the deliverance of 
the Israelites out of their captivity, which was so sud- 
den and unexpected that they who saw it thought them- 
selves in a dream, and could scarce be persuaded that 
the thing was real : which may exactly be applied to 
the strange and miraculous turn of affairs at the happy 
Restoration ; v.'hich was so surprising, that those who 
saw it were in such an ecstasy of joy and wonder, that 
they were almost afraid that their senses deceived them. 

§. 3. The cxxixth Psalm is ^ reflection upon the en* 
deavours of our enemies to destroy us, and an acknow- 
Icdgment of God^s continual help in delivering us; and 
concludes vvith a curse denounced upon thp enemies of 
the Church. 

§. 4. The cxviiith Psalm was composed originally for 
David's Coronation after God had brought him from 
his exile through many troubles, and had settled hira 
safely on his throne in peace. It is set last, because it 
peculiarly relates to the last scen^ of the Restoration, 
the crowning of King Charles II. 

IV. The first Lesson^^ is almost an exact parallel to 
our own case, describing how, after Absalom's death, 
(whereby the rebellion was happily ended,) the people 
unanimously resolved to bring back their lawful King 
David, and sent an honourable message to him in his 
exile, to invite him home ; and how also upon this he 
returned, not only without any opposition, but by the 
general consent, and to the great satisfaction of all his 
subjects ; his people qontonding which part of them 
should show themselves most forward and joyful upon 
so happy an occasion. 

§. 2* But if any new practices make it necessary to 
rellect u.pon that faction and sedition which began the 



87 e Samuel six. , 



the Twenty^Ninth of May. 665 

Rebellion, Numbers xvi. was added by King James, to ^^^^' 1^- 
be used instead of the former, \\here the example of ' ' - 
Corah, Dathan, and Abirani sets out the greatness of 
their sin, and the severity of I heir punishment, who de- 
light in opposins: their lawful Governors. 

§. ^. The second Lesson, which is now the Epistle of The se- 
Saint Judr, (but which was Romans xiii. till King James's *^°"^ ^*''' 
reign.) foretels the coming of talse teachers in the last 
days, and describes their hypocrisy in pretending to 
sanctity, while their lives are notoriously evil ; remark- 
ing particularly their railing at those in authority, and 
prophesying falsely for a reward, and containing at the 
same time a prophecy of their fall : and as the charac- 
ter of these was exactly answered by some in those sad 
times; so also was their prophecy soon after fulfilled to 
their ruin and destruction, to warn others to beware of 
such pretenders. 

VI. The Epistlc^^ (except the two first verses) is the The Epis.^ 
same with that for January 30, commanding us to be <'e and 
subject to the King as Supreme, But, lest we should ^^^P®'» 
doubt who our king is, the Gospel gives us a token to 
know him by, viz. He whose Image and Superscription 
our Tribute Money hears. For coining of Money is as 
certain a mark of Sovereignty, as the making of Laws, 
or the Power of the Sword. Wherever therefore that 
mark is found, there Tribute and the rights of Sove- 
reignty are due. For this reason our Saviour, to an- 
swer the question proposed to him, (viz. Whether it was 
lawfnl to pay Tribute to Ccesar or not ?) docs not examine 
into Caesar's y\^\\\.^ nor how he came by his sovereign 
power: but all the foundation he thinks necessary to 
proceed upon, is this of Caesar's Image and Superscript 
tion. i. e. the current coin of the country. For this was 
a proof that Caesar, at that time, was actually possessed 
of the supreme power in Judea, and that even the Jews, 
who used his money, acknowledged as much: an an- 
swer so plain, that the Pharisees were ashamed of th« 
question they had proposed, and went away without 
Uiaking a reply. For they no more dared to deny that 
C^sar was King, than they thought that Jesus dared ei- 
ther to own or deny the lawfulness of paying tribute to 
him. But one necessarily infers the other. For " since 



8S 1 Peter ii. 11-^18. 



&S6 Of the Form of Prayer for 

S^^f; " peace (saith the historian^') cannot be secured without 
* " forces, nor forces raised without pay, nor pay had 
*' without taxes or tribute ;" it follows that tribute must 
necessarily be paid to the person actually governing, so 
long as he governs, in consideration of the safety and 
protection we enjoy by him, whosoever he be that is 
possessed of the government. 

I know how injurious this doctrine hath been repre- 
sented to rightful Princes in distress from usurping pow- 
ers. But 1 never yet saw it proved, that Providence is 
confined always to maintain the same family on the 
throne ; or that, when another is raised up in the room 
of it, we are not obliged to embrace or submit to such a 
change in the government, according as it is ordained 
for a blessing or a scourge. However, to wave that ar- 
gument at present, it is sufficient to say here, that, sup- 
posing subjects to act upon the principles that are here 
laid down, no rightful Prince will ever be dispossessedr 
And sure it will be hard to charge those consequences 
upon the explanation of any Scripture, which can never 
happen till men have acted in direct opposition to the 
text so explained. 



CHAP. XVIII. 

Of the Form of Prayer drawn up for the 
FIRST of AUGUST ; and now to 
he used on the TWENTY-SE- 
COND of JUNE, 

The Introduction. 

Introduct. Ji-S the godly Christian Emperors in ancient tim^s^ so it 
appears tliat our most religions Princes since the Reforma- 
tion, have always caused the days of their Inaugurations to 
he publicly celebrated by all their subjects with Prayers and 
Thanksgivings to Almighty God^^. And to the end that 

89 Nee quies gentium sine nr- 98 See Can. 2. 1640. in Bishop 

mig, uec arnaa sine etipendiis, nee Sparrow's Collection, page 349. 

flipendia sine tributis haberi pos- iiiid King James II's Order for the 

sunt. Tacitus apud Grotium in Service on the sixth of February. 
Matt, xxji. 20. " 



the First of August, 5Af 

this day mi^jht be duly celebrated, we find that pariicu" Sect. I(, 
lar Forms of Prayer have been appointed by authority^ at *" 
least ever since the reign of King Charles l./or that day 
on purpose^^. It is true, after the death of that prince, 
this pious custom received a long and doleful interruption^ 
upon occasion of his Murder, which changed the day, on 
which Kirig Charles the Second succeeded to the Crown, 
into a day ofsorrozo and fasting^^* And indeed a great 
part of the duty of that day, and the devotions proper to 
it, were performed in the service for the twenty-ninth of 
May, However, upon King James IPs Accession, the 
forvier laudable and religious practice was immediately re- 
vived ; a Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving having been 
compassed by the Bishops for this purpose, in many things 
agreeing with this we now use. But in the reign of 
King William the Inauguration festival was again dis- 
used : and it must be owned there was so much the less 
occasion for it during his reign, as there were large ad- 
ditions made to the Form of Thanksgiving appointed for 
the Fifth of November, io commemorate his arrival, 
which happened on that day. However, when our late 
glorious and pious Queen Anne succeeded to the throne, 
there was fresh occasion to revive the festival. And 
therefore the day was again ordered to be observed, and 
a Form of Prayer w^ith Thanksgiving drawn up, part of 
it being taken from King James office, and part of it be- 
ing composed entirely new ; and is, altogether, the same 
(except the first Lesson) with the present office, which 
comes now in order to be explained. 

Of the Sentences, Hymn, Psalms, Lessons^ Epistle, and 
Gospel, 

I. T HE rubrics are the same as in the foregoing of- The Sar* 
fices ; and so the Sentences are the first that need to be tences, 
considered : and of these it is sufficient to say, that the 
first is a proper introduction to the duties we are now 
going to perform''^, and that the other is one of the or- 
dinary Sentences at Morning Service^*, and inserted 
here, in order to prepare us for the following Confession. 

II. The Hymn is an abridgment of a much longer one The 
that was appointed in the office drawn up for King Hym^i- 
James II. However this, as it stands, is as proper t» 

91 Ibid. 93 1 Tim. ii. 1,2. 

92 Ibid. Oi I ,roh« i. 8, ff. 



568 Of the Form of Prayer for 

Chap, the occasion, containing suitable petitions and praises 
Jf^ for the King. 

rp^p III. The proper Psalms are Psalm xx. xxi, ci. The 

Psalms. xxth is a Psalm of David, wherein ih^ people are taught 
Psalm XX. to praj for his good success. 

Psalm xxi. §. 2. The xxist was oriirinaily composed upon the 
same account fov which we now make choice of it, viz. 
to be a form of public praj^er, to be used in the congre- 
gation for God's blessing on the Prince. 
Pealm ci. §' 3. The cist Psalm is a resolution that David made 
to be a strict observer of piety and justice both in his 
private and public conduct, and is appointed here to re- 
mind us, that whoever desires -lod's blessing upon his 
person and government, must diligently attend to dis- 
countenance impiety, and to nourish true religion and 
virtue. In the room of this Psalm, in King James's of- 
fice, were appointed the Ixxxvth and the cxviiith ; but 
they being both chose with an eye to the exile, which 
that Prince underwent with his Royal Brother, were, in 
the office for Queen Anne, more properly changed. 
The Lea- IV. The first Lesson in Queen Anne's time was Prov- 
sons. erbs viii. 13. to the end: but now the first of Joshua is 

The first, again appointed, which was the Lesson for this office 
when it was put out by King James. Now indeed only 
the first ten verses are appointed, which contain the his- 
tory of Code's setting up Joshua to succeed Moses in the 
government of the Israelites, with the instructions that 
he gave him upon that occasion. Why the latter part 
was not continued as well as the former, I do not see ; 
since certainly some part of it is as applicable as the 
former to the case of his present Majesty, it going on 
with the story of Joshua's passing with the Israelites 
over Jordan, to take possession of the land which God 
had given him. 
The se- §• 2. The second Lesson^^ is appointed upon account 

cond. of that part of it which is read for the Epistle on No- 
vember 6, of which what I have there said may suffice. 
Th E ' - ^' '^^^^ Epistle and Gospel are the same with those 
tie and appointed on the twenty-ninth of May, and have already 
Oo.tpei. been spoken to in my discourse on that office. 

9.1 Romans xiii. 



Thanksgiving io Almiglity God* 5G9 

[CHAP. XIX. 

Of the Form of FJlXYEll and TRXNK^GIV- cha.jox 
IN it to dtmighty God, 

t OR the fruits of the earth, and all the other blessings 
of his raerciful providence ; lobe used yearly on the 
Jirst Thursday of November, or on such other day as 
shall be appointed by the civil authority. 

This form which in the American Prayer Book imme- 
diately follows the form for the Visitation of Prisoners" 
is not in the English; but was prepared in l7o5, and 
first appeared in what is called the proposed book, the 
title of which is as follows : The Book of Common 
Pray-er and administration of the Sacrament and other 
rites and ceremonies, as revised and proposed to the 
use of the Protestant Episcopal Church, at a convention 
of the said church in the states of New- York, New-Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South-Car- 
olina, held in Philadelphia from Sept. 27, to Oct. 7, 1 735. 
Printed by Hall & Sellers, 17o6. The forms treated 
of in chapters xv. xvi. xvii. and xviii. having reference 
to political events in the history of England, are of course 
omitted in the American Prayer Book. 

Of the Sentences, Hymn^ Psalms, Lessons, Epistle and 

' Gospel, 

^* lNSTEx\D of part of the ordinary Sentences before The S n- 
the Exhortation, are two taken out of tne Proverbs^^ tznci^a. 
and three from Duteronomy, declaring the wisdom, pow- 
er and goodness of God, and the happiness of his peo- 
ple; and exhorting them to honor the L.ord wiih their 
substance, and with the first fruit of all their increase. 

II. The Ifymn appointed instead of the Venite exuUe- ^^^ 
mus, consists of the 1. 2. 3. 8. 9. 12. 13. and 14th vers- ^^"^'' 
es of the ]47th Psalm, according to the version in the 
Bible, excepting the first member of the 3d verce, which 

is from the version in the Praj^cr Book, and the substi- 
tution of '' he" for "who" in the eighth. 

III. One of the selections'^ or some otlicr portion of The 
the Psalms shall be used at the discretion of the Minister. P^^^o^s, 

82 See chap, xiv, pa^e 553. 

83 Chiip. iii. verses 9 aiul 10, and 19 and 20. 

84 The Seiections of Psalms, 10 in nurniyor, are in tlie Ari;eric:ui 
Praver Book, but not m the English, 

Zzz 



5r0 Of (he form of Prayer to he used in Families. 



Cha. XX. 

Lesson?, 
The first. 



The 
second. 



The Epis- 
tles and 
Gospel. 



IV. The proper Lessons are Duteronomy, viii. and 
1 Thess. V. I 2 to 24. In the first, Moses exhorts the 
Israelites to observe the commands of God, and urges 
them to it from the consideration of the great and good 
things God had done for them in the wilderness, and the 
blessings of the good land they were going to possess, 
for which blessings they are exhorted to be thankful. 

In the second Lesson the Apostle admonishes the 
Thessalonians to entertain due esteem, and to show suit- 
able respect to their spiritual governors : and recom- 
mends the exercise of unity, chai-ity, patience and for- 
giveness ; of prayer and tlianksgiving; of a just regard 
to prophetic and spiritual endowments, and of discre- 
tion in entertaining, and constancy in upholding the 
truth. 

The Epistie^^ shows that God being perfectly hnly, 
can incline men to nothing but good. Itcondems those 
who content themselves wiih hearing the word of God, 
without observing its directions ; and those proud teach- 
ers who presume on themselves, and speak evil of oth- 
ers: It shows that the religion of such persons is vain, 
and teaches that true religion cannot subsist without the 
practice of works of charity, and abstinence from the 
vicious indulgences of the world. The GospeF^ leach- 
es us to love even our enemies and to labour after per- 
fection. 



Family 

Prayers. 



CHAP. XX. 

Ofilie FORMS of PRAYER to be uspd in 
FA VII LIES. 

1 HESE forms are peculiar to the American Praj'er 
Book. Thry are abridged from liishopQihson's family 
prayers, which are among the Religious Tracts dipcrs- 
ed by the English Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge ; and are distinguished for their perspicui- 
ty and con)prehensive brevity. If the children and oth- 
er members of each family, instead of merely listening 
to them, were to use their prayer books as regularly as 
in church, joining audibly in the Lord's prayer, and ut- 
tering tiie responsive Amen, at the end of the several 
petitions, the practice would conduce greatly to the pro- 
motion of practical piety. By reading the lessons for 
each day of the year in the calendar, especially those 
f]-om the New 'JVstament, and introducing after the 



8i Jcmcs i. 10. 



3G Matthew v. 43. 



Texts of Scripture Illuslraied, 



571 



Lord^s prayer the Collect appointed by the church for 
each week in the year, and for the several fasts and fes- 
tivals, the family devotions would be accommodated to 
public services, and be rendered in the highest degree 
instructive to the young and ignorant, as well as edify- 
ing to all. By a substitution of the singular for the plu- 
ral, these prayers may be adapted to the worship of the 
v^loset. '1 hey may also be used in schools and col- 
leges, which are properlj' to be considered as only lar- 
ger families.] 



TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE 



ILLUSTRATED AND EXPLAINKD. 



Chap. Verse Page 

Genesis 

xliii. 27. : 465 

Exodus 

xvii. 11, 12, 13. — 385 

Leviticus 

xviii.'12— 16. 438 

' Judges 

xiv. 20. 434 

. 1 Samuel 
'^xxi. 12. 504 

ECCLESIASTES 

V. 1. 95 

EZEKIEL 

ix, 4. 383 



Chap. Verse 


Page 


Amos 




vi. 10. 


504 



Zechariah 



iii. 8. 
vi. 12. 



St. Matthew 



iii. 11, 16. 
V. 23, 24. 
vi. 9. 

— 10. 
ix. 2. 
xiv. 19. 
xviii. 18. 
xix. 9. 
xxvi. 26. 

29. 



St. Mark 



x. 11. 

xiv. 23. 



90 
ib. 



403 

294 
4 

7 
479 
477 
ib. 
436 
319 
300 



436 
320 



Texts of Scripture illusiraled and explained. 



Chap. Verse 



St. LUEE 



i. 78. 

iii. 21. 
xi. 2. 



Pajje 



— 90 



408 

xvi. 18. 436 

xxii. 19. 320 



St. John 



iii. 3—7. 

xiv. 13. 

xvi. 23, 24, 

XX. 23. 



Acts 

i. 5. 

ii. 46. 

iv. 23,24. 

Romans 



ii. 20. 

xvi. 3,5, 10, 11, 14. 

1 Corinthians 



VH. '2. — 
14. - 
xi. 22. - 
— 24, 25. 
xvi. 1^. - 



351 

6 

ib. 

4r8 



409 
86 
10 



403 
87 



43G 
356 

87 
320 

87 



Chap, Verse * Page 

El'HESIAN S 



13. 



iv. 30. 

Philippians 

ii. 25. 



IV. 



COLOSSIANS 

15 



2 Corinthians 

i. 21,*^2. — 411,423 
viii. 23. 102 



GalatiaNs 
19. 



102 



1 Timothy 
iv. 14. - 

2 Timothy 



iv. 5. 
— 19. 



Philemon 
1,2. 



Hebrews 



xiii. t 



James 



411 
ib. 



102 



87 



.— 101 



100 
87 



87 



198 



V. 14, 15. — 479,487 
__ le. 480 

1 Peter 



III. 



1 John 

20, 27. - 



444 



42: 



THE 

INDEX 



ABSOLUTION, the power of 
it ; in what sense given by our 
Saviour to the Church, 477. 
The internal eflects of it, 480. 
In what sense exercised in the 
primitive Church, 481. How far 
abused by the Church of Rome, 
482. In what sense exercised by 
the Church of England, 477, 485 
-in the Morning and Evening 



service, how seasonably used 
there, 119. Of what benefit or 
effect, 120. Designed by the 
Church to be more than declar- 
ative, 121. Not to be pronounc- 
ed by a Deacon, 125 

* in the office for the Visitation 

of the Sick, seems only to re- 
spect the censures of the Church, 
477. What intended by the 
form, 482. Not to be pronounc- 
ed unless heartily desired, 484. 
See also the Preface, v. &c. 

Abstinence, how distinguished from 
Fasting by the Church of Rome, 
210. What days appointed for 
the one and the other, ib. No 
distinction made in the Church 
of England, either between days 
of Fasting and days of Absti- 
nence, or between any different 
kinds of food, 211. Abstinence 
from flesh on fish-days enjoined 
by Act of Parliament, ibid. En- 
tire Abstinence recommended 
by the Church of England on 
fast-days, ibid. 

Advent, why so called, 218. The 
antiquity of it, ib. Advent Ser- 
mons formerly preached, ih. 



Why the Church begins her 
year at Advent, 2l9 

Affinity. Sec Consanguinity. 

AfTusion in Baptism, answers the 
end of it, 376. Used sometimes 
by the primitive Christians, ibid. 
How it first came into practice, 
378. Affusion only to be used 
when the Child is sick, 397 

Agatha, a Sicilian Virgin and Mar- 
tyr ; some account of her, 61 

Agnes, a Roman Virgin and Mar- 
tyr ; some account of her, 60 
Why painted with a Lamb by 
her side, ibid. 

Alb, what, by whom, and when to 



be worn. 



108 



St. Alban, a Martyr ; some ac- 
count of him, 69 

All-Saints d-tiy, for what reasons 
observed, 201,271. The service 
for it, ibid. 

All-Souls day, what day so called, 
and why, 78 

Alms, how to be distinguished from 
the other devotions of the peo- 
ple, in the rubric after the offer- 
tory, 296. By whom and in what 
manner to be collected, 296, 297 

Almsgiving at the Sacrament, a 
necessary duty, 294 

Alphege, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury ; some account of him, 65 

Altar, in what part of the Church 
it formerly stood, 90. None 
were allowed to approach it but 
Priests, ibid. A dispute about 
it at the Reformation, 282. How 
it ought to stand, hoth in the 
Communion-time, and out of it, 
ibid. Whv the Priest must 



THE IxNDEX. 



stand on the North side of it, 
284. To be covered with a fair 
linen cloth at the time of Com- 
munion, ibid. 
A31BROSE, Bishop of Milan ; some 
account of him, 64 
Amen, what it signifies, 127, How 
regarded by the primitive Chris- 
tians, 128. Why printed some- 
times in Roman, and sometimes 
in Italic, ib. In what sense it is 
used at the end of the Curses in 
the Commination, 661 
St. Andrew's day, why observed 
first in the course of holy-days, 
and at the beginning of Advent, 

264 
Angels, thought to be present at 
the pejformance of divine mys- 
teries, 316 
St. Ann, Mother to the blessed 
Virgin Mary; some account of 
her, 71 
Anthems, the original and antiqui- 
ty of them, 166. Why to be 
sung between the third Collect 
and the prayer for the King, 167 
Annunciation, the feast of it, 264 
Apocrypha, when, and upon what 
account appoiiUed for Lessons, 

142 

Apostles, others beside the twelve 

so called, 99, 1 00. Their office 

not designed to be temporary, 99 

their davs why oi>served as 

festivals, " " 109 

Ascension-day, how early observ- 
ed, 249. The service of that 
day explained, ibid. 

Ash-Wednesd;iy, why Lent begins 
on that day, 233. Why so call- 
ed, ib. The discipline of the 
ancient Church on that da}', ib. 
liow the Church of England 
supplies it, 234. The service 



for it. 



ibid. 



St. AriiANASius's Creed. See Creed 

of A I lUNASIUS. 

August 1, a Form of Praver for 
it. ' ' 5G6 



AuGUSTiN, first Archbishop ofCan- 
terbury ; some account of him, 

67 

St AuGusTiN, Bishop of Hippo ; 
some account of him, 73 

Additions and Notes by Am. Editor. 
20-21, 22, 23, 26, 2G, 28, 67, 
82, Ur, 118, 122, 126, 128, 
133, 143-144, 160, 161-152, 
166, 167, 168, 163, 166, 166, 
1(»9, 170, 173, 176, 179, 188, 
l»l, 1,93, 194, 203, 226, 226. 
228, 231, 234, 251, 264, 266, 
266, 268, 262, 280, 286, 287, 
288, 291-292, 315, 318, 328. 
336, 363, 349, 313, 369, 395- 
396,399, 401-402, 418, 424- 
425, 427 428, 430, 435, 436, 
464, 457, 471, 472-473, 486^ 
493, 606, 607, 513, 620,526- 
627, 629, 530-531-532, 537. 
642, 543, 645, 546, 663-564, 
669, 670. 

B. 

Banns, what the word signifies, 427- 
Why and how often to be pub- 
lished, ib. The poverty of the 
parties, or their not being settled 
in the place where they are ask- 
ed, no reason for prohibiting the 
Banns, 428. The penalty of a 
Minister that marries without 
Licence or Banns, 429 

Baptism, how it typifies a new 
Birlh, 3 51. Formerly adminis- 
tered only at Piaster and Whit 
suntide, and why, 245, 359. To 
be administered now only on 
Sundays and Holy-days, except 
in cases of necessity, ib. The 
irregularity and scandal of ad- 
ministering public Baptism at 
home. 3G0. Why to be perform- 
ed after the second Lesson, 861. 
Persons dving without it not ca- 
])ab!e of Christian Burial, 506 

oi^ Infants, practised by the 

Jews, 364. No alteration intend- 
ed by our Saviour, ibid. Express 



THE INDEX. 



testimony for it in the New 
Testament, 356. Proved from 
the writings of the most ancient 
Fathers, 357 

-by Laymen. See Lay IJaptism. 



St. Barnabas, his day, why not 
formerly in the table of holy- 
days, 200 
St. Bartholomew, a remark upon 
the Gospel appointed for his 
day, 270 
Bede, some account of him, 68 
How he got the name of Vene- 
rable, ibid. 
Benedict, an Abbot; some ac- 
count of him, 63 
Bidding of Prayer before Sermon 
enjoined by the Church ever 
since the Reformation, 2fl3. The 
contrary practice attended with 
fatal consequences, ibid. 
Birth-days, the days of the Mar- 
tyrdom of the ancient Christians 
so called, and vvhy, 199 
Bishops were called Apostles in the 
first age of the Church, 101. 
Those called Bisheps in Scrip- 
ture were probably no more 
than Presbyters, ibid. See Min- 
istry. 
Bissextile, Leap-years, whence so 
called, ' 265 
Blassius, Bishop and Martyr ; some 
account of him, 61 
BoNiFACR, Bishop of Mentz, and 
Martyr ; some account of him,68 
Bread in the Sacrament, whether 
it should be leavened or unleav- 
ened, 343 
Bread and Wine for the Com- 
munion, when, and by whom to 
be placed on the table, 297. 
How and by whom to be pro- 
vided, 547. '1 he remainder 
after the Communion how to be 
disposed of, 346 
Breaking the Bread, a ceremony 
always used by the ancient 
Church in consecrating the Eu- 
charist, 322 



Bridemen, their antiquity, 434 
Britius, or St. Brice; some ac- 
count of him, 78 
Burial, Christian, the ancient form 
of it, 505. To what sort of per- 
sons denied, 506. The time 
when performed, 513. The 
manner of procession at Fune- 
rals, ib. Rosemary, why given 
ac Funerals, 514. The Priest 
to meet the Corpse in his sur- 
plice, ibid. And to j^o before it 
to the church or grave, 515. In 
what places the dead were bu- 
ried formerly, ibid. The ancient 
solemnity of taking leave of the 
dead body, 527. The position 
of the corpse in the grave, ib. 
The throwing earth upon the 
body, 528. A Communion at 
Funerals formerly appointed, 
and why, 531 



CiECILlA, Virgin and Martyr; 
some account of her, 80 

Calends, the column of them, 57 

Candlemas-day, whence so called, 

2G4 

Canonical hours for celebraiing 
Marriage, 432 

Catechising, what the word si'^ni- 
fies, 404. Of divine institution 
and universal practice, 402. As 
proper after Baptism as before, 
403, How often to be perform- 
ed, 405. Why after the second 
Lesson, 406. Who to be cate- 
chised, 407. What care to be 
taken by parents and masters, ib. 

Catherine, Virgin and Martyr; 
some account of her, 80 

Ceddc. or Chad, Bishop of Lich- 
field ; some account of him, 62 

Chancels, why so called, 90. Al- 
ways stood at the East end of 
the church, ibid. How to re- 
main as they have done in times 
past, 113 



THE INDEX. 



Chimere, a Bishop's habit, 108 

Choir, all divine service perform- 
ed there at tirst. 111. Till clam- 
oured against by Bucer, ib. And 
altered upon his complaint, ib. 
Which caused great contentions, 
112. Till the old custom was 
revived by Queen Elizabeth, ib. 

Chrisom used anciently in Baptism, 
381. Why so calle^d, 382. Was 
formerly offered by the Avoman 
at her churching, 543. What 
the word should signify in the 
weekly bills, 544. See White 
Garments. 

Christmas-day, how early observ- 
ed in the Church, 220. The 
service for it explained, 22 i. 
Why a prescribed time for com- 
municating, 337 

St. Chrysosto-m, his prayer, 170 
When first added, 171 

Chronicles, (the books of) why not 
read for Lessons, 141 

Churches, the necessity of having 
appropriate places for public 
worship, 85 The universal 
practice of Heathens, Jews, A- 
postles,and primitive Christians, 
86. The churches of the an- 
cient Christians sumptuous and 
magnificent, 89. The form of 
them, ib. Decency in churches 
requisite and necessary, 92. To 
be consecrated hy a solemn ded- 
ication of them to God, 93. 
Called by the names of angels 
and saints, 94. Great reverence 
shewn in them by the primitive 
Christians, ibid. 

Church holy-days, what days so 
called, and why, ibid. 

Churching of Women. See 

Thankscriving of Women after 
Child- Birth. 

Circuuscision (the feast of) the de- 
sio;n of it, 225. The antiquity 
or it, ib. The service for it, ib. 

St. Clkmf.nt, Uishop of Rome, and 
Martvr : i?orno account of him. 80 



Clergy and People, the prayer for 
them, when first added, 169 

Clerks, who intended by them, 1G2 

Collects, why the prayers are di- 
vided into so many short Col- 
lects, 163. Why so called, 165. 
Whether the Collect for a Mon- 
day festival is to be used on the 
t^aturday or the .Sunday evening, 
205. The week-day Collects 
not to be used on holy-days or 
their eves, 208. The antiquity 
of the Collects for the Sundays 
and Holy-days, 212 

Comber, Dr. his character of our 
Liturgy, 37 

CommemorationSjWhat they were, 

146 

Commination, the occasion and de- 
sign of the office, 546. How of- 
ten and upon what occasions to 
be used, 547. To be said after 
the Litany ended, 548. To. be 
said in the reading-pew or pul- 
pit, 549- The design of the 
curses in this office, 550. Amen, 
what it signifies at the end of 
every curse, 551 

Common Prayer Book, compiled 
in the reign of King Edward VI. 
26. And confirmed by Act of 
Parliament, 28. But afterwards 
submitted to the censure of Bu- 
cer and Martyr, ib. Upon 
whose exceptions it was review- 
ed and altered, ib. And again 
confirmed by Act of Parliament, 
29. Both which Acts were re- 
pealed by Queen Mary, ib. But 
the second book of King Edward, 
will) some few alterations, again 
established in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, ib. Some other al- 
terations made in it in the reign 
of King James I. 31. And the 
whole book again reviewed af- 
ter the Restoration, ib. 'J'he 
names of the commissioncrs,and 
tl)e manner of their proceeding, 
32. Compiled by an ccclesias- 



THE INDEX. 



tica1 not a civil authority, 34. A 
character of it from Dr. Com- 
ber, 37. See Liturgy of the 
Church of England. 

Communicants, the Ministers to be 
judges of their fitness for the 
Communion, 276. And have 
power to repel scandalous of- 
fenders, ib. When and how the 
Communicants are to he conven- 
iently placed at the Commu- 
nion, 310 

Communion, in what time of di- 
vine service notice of it is to be 
given,290. Wot to be administer- 
ed to scandalous offenders, 276. 
Nor to Schismatics, 280. Nor 
to persons not confirmed, ibid. 
Nor to strangers from other par- 
ishes, ibid. When the Minister 
is to give notice of it, 290. The 
care of the Church about fre- 
quent Communions, 337, 342 

Double Communions on the same 
day, an ancient practice, 216 

Communion, in one kind examin- 
ed, S3£ 

Communion Service, designed to 
be used at a different time from 
Morning Prayer, 274. The or- 
der of it in King Edward's first 
book, and the Scotch Common 
Prayer, 317. Why to be said 
on all Sundays and Holy-days, 
339. To be said at the Altar, 
though there be no Communion, 
and why, 340 

Communion of the Sick, agreeable 
to the practice of the primitive 
Church, 496. Timely notice to 
be given to the Curate, 499. 
How many required to commu- 
nicate with the Sick, ib. Where 
the Sick is hindered from com- 
municating, he is to supply it by 
faith, 501 

Communion Table, how properly 
called an Altar, 28 1. See Altar. 

Confession, in the Morning and 
A A a a 



Evening F'rayer, why placed at 
the beginning, 118. An objec- 
tion against it answered, 119 

(Private) the state of it in the 

primitive Church, 473. How 
far enjoined by the Church of 
England, 475. The benefits and 
advantages of it, 476 

Confirmation, a necessary qualifi- 
cation for the Communion, 280. 
of divine institution, 40S. Of 
apostolical practice. 409. Its be- 
ing attended at first with miracu- 
lous powers no argument that it 
was designed only for a tempo- 
rary ordinance, 410. Adminis- 
tered by the Apostles not so 
much for the sake of its extra* 
ordinary, as of its ordinary ef- 
fects, ib. Designed for a stand- 
ing and perpetual ordinance, 
4ri. Practised by the Church 
in all ages, ib. Of what use and 
benefit, 412. Not rendered un- 
necessary by the receiving the 
Eucharist, 413. Necessary to 
confirm the benefits of Baptism, 
414. At what age persons are 
to be confirmed, 415. To be 
administered only by Bishops, 

417. A godfather or godmoth- 
er necessary to be witness of it, 

418. Imposition of hands an es- 
sential rite in it, 420. But a 
blow on the cheek used instead 
of it by the Church of Rome^ 
421. Prayer another essential 
to it, 422. Unction in Confirma- 
tion, primitive and catholic, 4^:3. 
As also the sign of the Cross, 

424 
Consanguinity, or AflSnity, what de- 
grees of either expressly forbid 
to marry, 438. And what by 
parity of reason implied, ib. The 
case the same in unlawful con- 
junctions as in lawful marriages, 
439. And between bastard chil- 
di'en, as between those that are 



THE INDEX. 



legitimate, ibid. The reasons 
of the prohibition, ibid. ISuch 
marriages, why called incestu- 
ous, 440 
Consecration of Churches. See 
Churches. 

— of the Elements in the Eu- 
charist, always attributed to the 
Invocation of the Holy Ghost, 

320, &,c. 
— of the Water in Baptism, an- 
cient and decent, 372 

Cope, what sort of habit. 109. By 
whom and when to be worn, ib. 

Corporal, or Linen Cloth, thrown 
over the consecrated Elements 
at the Communion, 333 

Cousins, no Cousins prohibited 
Marriage, 440. Why not, 441 

Creed (the Apostles) why called 
Creed, 154. Why called Sym- 
bolum, ib. The antiquity of it, 
155. When first recited pub- 
licly, ib. NVhy placed between 
the Lessons and Prayers, 156. 
To be repeated by the whole 
congregation, why, 157. i o be 
repeated standing, why.ib. Why 
with their faces towards the 
East, ibid. 

— — (of St. Athanasius) the scru- 
ple which some make against it 
answered, 158. Why used on 
the days mentioned in the ru- 
bric, 1 50 

— (Nicene) why placed next af- 
ter the iCpistle and Gospel, 289 
An account of it, ibid. 

Crispin, Martyr; some account of 

him, 77 

Cross (Invention of the) what day 

so called, and why, 66 
in Baptism, used twice by the 

primitive Christians. 366. The 

antiquity and meaning of it, 384. 

Why made after Baptism, 388. 

W'hy made upon the forehead, 

ibid 
Cross in the consecration of the 

Eucharist, an ancient and gen- 



eral practice, 322 

in Confirmation, ancient and 

catholic, 422 

Coroner's warrant, no rule for giv- 
ing Christian burial to persons 
that lay violent hands upon 
themselves, 511 

Curates, who meant by them in the 
prayer for the Clergy and Peo- 
ple, 169 

Cycle of the Moon. See Golden 
Number. 

Cycle of the Sun, the Sunday Let- 
ter improperly called the Cycle 
of the Sun, 52. The use of it, 
ib. Why it consists of twenty- 
eight years, 53. How to find 
the Dominical Letter, ibid 

St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 
and Martyr, 75. The Cyprian 
in the Roman calendar a differ- 



ent person, 



ibid 



Colleges' forms of prayer, to be 
used in them, 571 

D 

DAVID, Archbishop of Menevia, 
afterwards called St. David's; 
some account of him, 62 

Days, one in seven, why kept ho- 
ly, 195 

Deacons, not to pronounce Abso- 
lution, 125 

Dead, praying for them, an ancient 
and catholic practice, 303. In- 
consistent with the doctrine of 
Purgatory, ibid. In what sense 
used in King Edward's Common 
Prayer, 521. How far implied 
in our present Liturgy, 523 

Dead Bodies, the care of them an 
act of religion, 502. The rea- 
sons of that care, ibid. 

Deadly Sin, what it signifies, 178 

Dedication of Churches,the feast of 
it, on what day to be observed 
in England, 93. See Churches. 

Di'.NYS the Areopagite, some ac- 
count of him, 76 

Desks, or Keading-Pews, the orig- 



THE INDEX. 



inalof them, 112 

Dipping iQ Baptism. See Immer- 
sion. 

Doctrine andKrudition(IVecessary) 
for any Christian Man, a book 
with that title put out by King 
Henry VIII. 25 

Dominican in Albis, what Sunday 
so called, and why, 247 

Dominical Letter. See Cycle of 
the Sunday Letter. 

Doxology (For thine is the King- 
dom» &c.) its being added by St. 
Matthew, and omitted by St. 
Luke, no objection to the Lord's 
Prayer being a form, 4. Why 
sometimes added in the Liturgy, 
and sometimes omitted, 129 

— — (Glory be to the father, &c. 
corrupted by the Arians, and for 
that reason enlarged by the 
Church, 131. Used at the end 
of all the Psalms and Hymns, and 



why. 



St. DuNSTAN, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury ; some account of him, 

67 

Duties, Ecclesiastical, what, and 
when to be paid, 347 



E 



EAST, why the primitive Chris- 
tians turned that way in their 
worship, 90 Why chancels 
stand at the East end of the 
church, ib. Why people turn 
their faces that way when they 
say the Creed, 157. Why peo- 
ple are buried with their feet 
towards the FJast, 52r 

Easter, the rule for finding it, 39. 
Upon what occasion it was fram- 
ed, ib. Easter difierently observ- 
ed in different Churches, 40. 
Ordered to be every where ob- 
I served on the same day by the 

council of Nice, ibid. The Pas- 
chal Canons passed in that coun- 
cil, ib. The new and full Moons 



ordered to be found by the Gold- 
en Numbers, ibid. Easter by 
that means was kept sometimes 
too soon, and sometimes too late, 
41. The Paschal Limits answer- 
ing the Golden Numbers, 42. 
Cj^cles and Tables invented to 
find Easter for ever, 43. Found 
to be enroneous, 45 

Easter-day, when first observed, 
and why so called, 242. The 
Anthems instead of the Venite 
Exultemus, why appointed, ibid. 
The rest of the service for it ex- 
plained, 243. Why a prescrib- 
ed time for communicating, 244. 
The whole time between East- 
er and Whitsuntide formerly ob- 
served, ib. The week after 
Easter how observed formerly, 
and vvhy, 245. The Sundays 
after Kaster, their services how 



proper. 



247 



Easter Eve, how observed in the 
primitive Church, 240. How ob- 
served by the Church of Eng- 
land, 241. The service for it, 

ibid. 

Edmund, King and Martyr; some 
account of him, SO 

Edward, the Confessor, his trans- 
lation, '77' 

'- King of the West 'Saxons, 

some account of him* 63. His 
translation, another festival for- 
merly observed, 69 

Elements in the Eucharist conse- 
crated by our Saviour with a so- 
lemn blessing, 321. The form 
and manner of administering 
tiiem to the communicants, 327, 
Private consecration of them 
how far allowed, 497- Sec 
Bread and Wme. 

Ember- weeks, what they were, and 
why so called, 2 19, 220. At 
what seasons observed, ib. Why 
oidinations are atlixed to those 
times, ib. The prayers to bo us. 
ed at those times, when first ad- 



THE INDEX. 



ded, 190 

Epact, tbe occasion of it, 49, How 
it answers the Golden Number, 
50. How to find it, ib. The use 
of it in finding the Moon's age, 
ibid. Why it shows the Moon's 
age truer than the Golden Num- 
l^er, 51 

Ppiphany, what the word signifies, 
226. Used formerly for Christ- 
Tnas-d;iy, ib. The ancient names 
of it, ib. The service for it, 227. 
The services for the Sundays af- 
ter the Epiphany,228. The feast 
of it, to what end instituted, ibid. 

Epistler, arid Gospeller, why ap- 
pointed, 28B 

Epistles for Sundays and Holy-days, 
the antiquity of them, 213. In 
what version thr^y are used, ibid. 
Their order and method,ib. The 
suitableness of them to the seve- 
ral days, ibid. Why the Epistles 
are read before the Gospels, 2ST 

Erudition for any Christian Man. 
See Doctrine. 

Espousals, what they were former- 
ly, 445. How supplied now, 446 

Etheldred, Virgin ; some account 
of her, 77 

Evangelist, not a distinct ofHcer by 
himself, 100 

Eucharistj the virtue of it, 27S. 
Whence so called, 312. See 
Communion Service.^ 

Eves, why called Vigils, 203. The 
original of them, ibid. Which 
festivals have Eves, and which 
not, and why, 204, ib. The Kve 
of a festival that falls upon a 
Monday, to be observed on the 
Saturday, 205 

EuNUR,cHus, Bishop ()( Orleans ; 
some account of him, 74 

Pxcommunication, tjie internal ef- 
fects of itj 480. An ipso facto 
Excommunication, how it differs 
from an ordinary one, 510. Per- 
sons dying excommunicate noi 
papabie of Christian buria!, pQ8. 



Whether a person that incurs an 
ipso facto Excommunication can 
be refused Christian burial be- 
fore sentence is pronounced, ib. 

Exhortations to the Communion, 
why there were none in the pri- 
mitive Liturgies, 306. The use- 
fulness of those in our office, 307 

Exorcising in Baptism, an ancient 
practice, 366 

Expectation Week, what week so 
called, and why, 251 

EzEKiEL, why some part of it is 
not read for Lessons, 142 



F. 



FABIAN, Bishop and Martyr; 
some account of him, 60 

Faith, Virgin and Martyr; some 
account of her, 76 

Fasting, how ancient and universal 
a duly, 209. How distinguished 
from Abstinence in the Church 
of Rome, 210. What days ap- 
pointed for one and the other, ib. 
Whether distinguished in our 
own Church, 211. Days of Fast- 
ing, how observed by the prim- 
itive Christians, ibid. 

Festivals, how requisite to be ob- 
served, 197. Jewish Festival? 
not to be observed by Christians, 
ibid. Christian Festivals, how 
early observed, 198. In what 
manner observed by the primi- 
tive Christians, ib. What and 
how observed by the Church of 
England, 199, 201-. Why the 
Curate is to bid them, ib. What 
to be done in the concurrence of 
holy-days, ib. And why length- 
ened out for several days, 315. 
Why fixed to eight days, 316 

Forms of Prayer, a full vindication 
of the joint use of precomposed 
set Forms of Prayer, 2, &c. 

Fonts, why so called, 563. Why 
genernlly placed at the lower 
end of the church, 364. For? 



THE INDEX. 



merly very large, ib. Why made 
of stone, ibid. 

Friday, why observed as a Fast- 
day, 211 

Full Moon, See Easter. See Epact. 

Funerals,variously performed. 503. 
Sometimes by burying, which 
was the most ancient and natural, 
ib. Sometimes by burning, 5v'4. 
Always performed with due so- 
lemnity, ib. See Burial of the 
Dead. See Dead Persons. 

Family Prayers, 570 

G. 

GENESIS, why appointed to be 
read in Lent, 143 

St. George, Martyr ; some account 
of him, 65. How he came to 
be Patron of the Entjlish, 66 

Giles, Abbot and Confessor ; some 
account of him, 73 

Glory be to the Father, ^c, See 
Doxoiogy. 

Godfathers and Godmothers, the 
original, antiquity, and use of 
them, 361. The number of 
them, 362. Whence called sure- 
ties and witnesses, ib. The qual- 
ifications required in them, S63. 
No Parents to be admitted, ibid. 
Nor persons that have not re- 
ceived the Communion, ib. The 
reasonableness of admitting a vi- 
carious stipulation, 367. Why 
the Godfathers or Godmothers 
are to'name the child, 374 The 
ill practice of choosing unfit per- 
sons to this office, 389. A God- 
father or Godmother required at 
Confirmation, 413 

Golden Number, by whom invent- 
ed, and why so called, 46. I'he 
occasion ot it, and how brought 
into the Calendar, ib. Why now 
left out of the Calendar, ib. 
How to find the Golden Number 
of any year, 48 

Good Friday, why so called, 2S9. 
Why observed as a fast, ib. The 



Gospel for it, why taken out of 
St. John, ib. The rest of the 
service for it, 240 

Gospels for the Sundays and Holy- 
days, the antiquity of them, 212. 
In what version they are used, 
213. Their order and method, 
ib. The suitableness of them to 
the several days, ib. Standing 
up at the Gospel, why enjoined, 

288 

Gospeller and Epistler, why ap- 
pointed, ibid. 

Gregory the Great, Bishop of 
Rome, and Confessor; some ac- 
count of him, 63 



H. 



See 



HABITS for the Minister. 
Ornaments. 

Hallelujah, hopv anciently and uni- 
versally used, 132 

Hilary, Bishop and Confessor ; 
some account of him, 60 

Holy-Cro5S-day ; what day so call- 
ed, and why, 74 

Holy-dajs, (Popish,) why retained 
in our calendar, 58. See Festi- 
vals. 

Hpmilies of the Cimrch of Eng- 
land, by whom composed, and 
when, 293 

Honey, Milk and Salt, why given 
anciently to the new baptized, 
352. Why discontinued, 353. 

Hood, by whom first used, 107. 
Why used by the Monks, ibid. 
Why used in Cathedrals and Uni- 
versities, ibid. 

Hours, the third and ninth the 
times of the Jewish Sacrifice, 
and why, 83. The same hours 
observed for prayer by the prim- 
itive Christians, 84. Why not 
enjoined by the Church of Eng- 
land, ibid. 

• canonical, for celebrating 

Marriage, 432 

Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln ; some 



THE INDEX. 



acconnt of him, 79 

Hymns, the antiquity of them, 149. 

Why used after the Lessons, ib. 

WheQ first added, ibid. 



I. 



JANUARY 30, a Form of Prayer 

for it, 557 

St. Jerom, Priest, Confessor, and 

Doctor ; some account of him. 76 

Jesus, reverence to be made at the 

name of Jesus, 157 

Images, the use of them forbid in 
the primitive Church, 90. A re- 
markable instance of it, 91 

Immersion, or Dipping in Baptism, 
most primitive and significant, 
375. See Affusion, bee 'I'rine 
Immersion. 

Immoveable Feasts, why placed 
by themselves in the Common 
Prayer Book, 253. Observa- 
tions on some of them, ibid. 

Impediments to Marriage, what, 
436, &c. 

Imposition of Hands essential to 
Confirmation, 420. A blow on 
the cheek used instead of it by 
the Church of Rome, 421 

Incestuous Mnrriages, what Mar- 
riages so called, and why, 440 

Infant Baptism. »See Baptism of 
Infants. 

Innocents-day, why oberved, 201. 
Why observed presently after 
Christmas-day, 222. The ser- 
vice for it explained, 223 

Institution (Godly and Pious) of a 
Christian Man, a book with that 
title put out by King Henry 
VIII. 25 

Introits, what they were, and how 
ancient, 216. The Introits for 
every Sunda}^ and Holy-day 
throughout the year, 217 

Invention of the Cross, a day so 
called, and why, 66 

St. John Baptist, his day why ob- 
served, 199. Why commemo- 



rated by his Nativity, 270. His 
Beheading, what day so called, 

73 
St. John Evangelist, why com- 
memorated at Christmas, 2^22. 
The service for his day, how 



proper. 



223 



Ante Port. Lat. what day so 

called, and why, 66 

Isaiah, why reserved to be read in 

Advent, 142 

June 22, a form of Prayer for it, 

566 



K. 



KALENDAR (or Calendar) 57 
KneeUng, the Sacrament to be 
received kneeling, 329. The 
Apostles probably received it in 
a posture of adoration, ibid. 
Though their posture does not 
bind us, ib. When kneeling first 
began, 230. How universal and 
reasonable a practice, ib. The 
protestation concerning it, 349. 
The Minister why sometimes to 
stand, and sometimes to kneel^ 

324 



L. 



LAMBERT, Bishop and Martyr; 

some account of him, 75 

Lammas-day, what day so called, 

and why, 71 

St. Laurence, Archdeacon of Rome, 

and JVIartyr, some account of 

him, 72 

Lawn sleeves, a Bishops habit, 108 
Lay Baptism, allowed by our 

Church at the first Ueformation, 

391. But afterwards prohibited 
by both houses of Convocation, 

392. Whether valid or effectu- 
al in the sense of our Church, 

305 

Leap-Years, whence called Bi^' 

sextile, 26^ 

Legends, what they were, 145 



THE INDEX. 



Lent, the original and Antiquity of 
it, 230. Variousl}^ observed at 
first, 231. Why limited to forty 
days, ib. Why so called, 232. 
Why to end at Easter, ib. How 
obseTved by the primitive Chris- 
tians, ib. The .>undays in Lent, 
the services appointed for them, 
234. How they are named, 225 

Leonard, Confessor ; some account 
of him, 78 

Lessons, why they follow the 
Psalms, 140. I he antiquity of 
them, 141. The order of" the 
first i.essons for ordinary days, 
ib. Why some books of the 
Old Testament are not read, 
142. Isaiah, why reserved for 
Advent, ib. The first Lessons 
for Sundays, 143. Genesis, why 
read in Lent, ibid. First Lessons 
for Saints days, 144. For Holy- 
days, ibid. The order of the se- 
cond Lessons, ibid The Revela- 
tion, why not read, 145. What 
posture the Minister and People 
ought to be in when the Less- 
ons are reading, 147 
Let us pray, often used, and why, 

160 

Licence, the penalty of a Minister 

that marries without Licence or 

Banns, 429 

Lights upon the Altar enjoined by 



the rubric, 



no 



Litany, what the word signifies, 
172. Why sung in the middle 
of the choir, ib. The original 
of jthem in this form, ib. Used 
formerly in processions, 173. 
On what da;ys to be used, and 
why, ib. At what time of the 
day, 174. One out of every fam- 
ily in the parish to be present 
at it, 175. I he irregularity of 
singing it by Laymen, 176. The 
method and order of it, 177. ^-c. 
When properly ended, 549 

Mturgy, the lawfulness and necess- 
ity of a national precQmposed 
one, 1, ^c. 



Liturgy of the Church of England, 
how it stood before the Reforma- 
tion, 24. What was done in re- 
lation to it in King Henry VIIl's 
reign, ib. See Common Prayer 
Book. 
Lord be with you, ^-c. why placed 
between the Creed and Lord's 
Prayer, 160 

Lord have mercy upon us, 4'C. the 
antiquity and use of this form, 
161. Why placed before the 
Lord's Prayer, ib. The Clerk 
and People not to repeat it a 
second time after the Minister, 

ibid. 
Lord's Prayer, prescribed by our 
Saviour for the constant use of 
his Church, 4. Objections against 
it answered, ibid. <^c. Always 
used by the primitive Church, 9. 
V\ by used in all offices, and gen- 
erally at the beginning, 129. 
Why repeated aloud by the 
whole congregation, 130. Why 
repeated more than once in an 
office, 162 

Lord's Supper, daily received by 
the primitive Church, 337. The 
care of the Church in adminis- 
tering it to persons in danger of 
death, 486. See Communion 
Service. 

Low-Sunday, what day so called, 
and why, 247. The service for 
it, ibid. 

St. LuciAN, Confessor and Martyr; 
some account of him, o'i 

Lucy, Virgin and Martyr; some 
account of her, 81 

St. Luke, his day, why observed, 

201 

Lunar Year, how computed, 4S 



M. 



MACHUTUS, Bishop; some ac- 
count of him, 75 

Margaret, Virgin and Martyr at 
Antioch ; some account of her, 

70 



THE INDEX. 



St. Mark, his day, why observed, 
201. Why observed as a day 
of abstinence by the Church of 
Rome, 210 

Marriage, a divine institution, 426. 
Must be performed by a lawful 
Minister, ib. Not before Banns 
be published on three Sundays, 
or Licence obtained, 427. At no 
time prohibited, 430. Though 
jiiot decent at some seasons, 431. 
To be solemnized in one of the 
churches whereBanns were pub- 
lished, 432. To be performed 
between the hours of eight and 
twelve in the morning, 433. In 
what part of the church to be 
solemnized, ibid. Who to be 
present at the solemnization, 
434. The man, why to stand at 
the right hand of the woman, ib. 
The impediments to Marriage, 
what they be, 436. No Cous- 
ins prohibited Marriage, 440. 
The mutual consent ot the par- 
ties to be asked, 443. The hus? 
band's duty, ib. The wife's du- 
ty, 444. The father or friend 
why to give the woman, 447. 
And the Minister why to receive 
her, ib. Their right hands why 
to be joined, 448. The mutual 
stipulation explained at large, ib. 
The meaning of the Ring. ISee 
' Ring. The married persons 

ought to receive the Sacrament, 
461. The advantage of commu- 
uicating on the day of marriage, 

462 

Si Martyn, Bishop and Confess- 
or ; his translation, 70 

JVIartyrs, the days of their death, 
why observed, and why called 
their Birth-days, 193 

Marv Magdalen, why her festival 
is discontinued, 71 

■ the Virgin, her Visitation, on 

what day formerly commemo- 
rated, 69. Her Nativity, on what 
dny formerly commemorated,74. 



Her Conception, on what day 
formerly commemorated, 81 

Matrimony. See Marriage. 

Masses, solitary, not allowed of by 
the Church of England, 343 

St. Matthias's day, on what day 
to be observed in Leap-years, 

266 

Maunday Thursday, why so called, 
238. The Epistle, why concern- 
ing the institution of the Lord's 
Supper, ibid. The practice of 
the primitiveChurch on this day, 
ib. The church-doors why set 
open on this day, ibid. 

May 29, a Form of Prayer for it, 

561 

St. Michael and All Angels, why 
observed, 201. St. Michael,why 
particularly commemorated, 270 

Middle State, the anpient notion 
concerning it, 303 

Midlentino^, or Mothering, the rise 
of that custom, 235 

Milk, Honey, and Salt, why given 
anciently to the new baptized, 
352. Why discontinued, 353 

Millennium, the notion of it very 



primitive. 



304 



Ministers, sometimes to stand, and 
sometimes to kneel, why, 163 

Ministry, the necessity of a divine 
commission to qualify a person 
for the ministry, 95, <^-c. The 
necessity of Episcopal Ordina- 
tion, 98. Three distinct orders 
set apart by the Apostles to the 



mmistry, 



99 



Money given at the Offertory, how 
and when to be disposed of, 349 

Moon. See Easter. See Epact. 
See Golden Number. -" 

Mornin;:; and Evening Prayer to be 
said daily, either openly or pri- 
vately, by every Priest and Dea- 
con, 84. The form and order of 
it in the primitive Church, 115 

Mothering See Midlenting. 

Musical Instruments used in sing- 



ing of Psalms, 



137 



THE INDEX. 



N. 



NAMK given to children at bap- 
tism, why, 374. . tiealben aad 
wanton names prohibited, 375. 
To be given py }he gudiath- 
ers or godmotherS^and why, 

ibid, 

Name of Jesus, what day so called, 

72 

New Moon, how to find it by the 
Golden N umber in the calendar, 
45. See Epact. See EdSter. 
See Golden Number. 

Nicene Creed, bee Creedf^cene. 

Nicolas, Bishop of Myra in Ly- 
cia; some account of him, 81 

NicoDEMK, a Roman Priest and 
Martyr ; some account of him, 68 

November 5, a Form of Prayer 
for it, 5J4 

Notes by American Editor. See 
additions and notes by Am. Ed. 



O. 



OBLATION of the Eucharist af- 
ter consecration, always practis- 
ed by the ancients, 323. Our 
present prayer of Wbiation man- 
gled and displaced, ibid. 

Octaves, or the eighth days after 
the principal feasts, how former- 
ly observed, 224. For what 
reason, 315 

Offertory, the Sentences in the 
Communion office so called, and 
why, 295 

Orders of the Ministers, three dis- 
tinct ones set apart by the Apo- 
stles, 99 

Ordination, by a Bishop, the neces- 
sity of it, jS. Presbyters never 
invested with it, lOU. At what 
seasons performed, 220 

Organs, the antiquity of them, 137 

Ornaments, or Habits, enjoined to 

be worn by the Ministers, and 

in the church, 103. Offensive 

to Bucer and Calvin, 1 10. Dis- 

Bb b b 



continued in the second book of 
King Edward, ib. But restored 
again by Queen Elizabeth, ibid. 
O Sapientia, what day so called, 
and why, 81 



PALL at the Communion. See 
Corporal. 

Palla Altaiis, and Palla Corporis, 
what, and how dislinguished.284 

Palls worn by Archbishops, the 
original of them, 61 

Palm'Sunday, why so called, 226 

Paranymphs, or Bridemen, their 
antiquity, 434 

Parents, not allowed to stand god- 
fiithers or godmothers for their 
own children, 363. The want 
of their consent, an impediment 
to their children's marriage, 442 

Parliament, the prayer for it, when 
first added, 192 

Passing-Bell, why formerly order- 
ed to be rung, 495 

Passion-Sunday, what Sunday so 
called, and why, 235 

Passion-Week, why called the 
Great Week, and the Holy 

Week, 236. How formerly ob- 
served, ib. How observed by 
the Church of England, 237. 
The services appointed for it, 

ibid. 

Pastoral Staff, an account of it, 109 

St. Paul, his day, why not former- 
ly in the tableof holy-days, 200. 
Why commemorated by his Con- 
version, 264 

A peal to be rung before and after 
every burial. , 513, 534 

Penitents, the form of driving them 
out of the church on Ash Wed- 
nesday, 233 The form of re- 
conciling them on Maunday 
Thursday, 238 

Perpetua, a Mauritanian Martyr; 
some account of her, 63 

St. Phillip, whether the Apostle 



THE INDEX. 



or Beacon, commemorated by 
our Cliurch, ' 269 

Pie. why so called, 146 

Pica Letters, why so called, ibid. 

Places, the necessity of havinj? ap- 
propriate p aces for the public 
worship of God, 85 

Polygamy forbid by the Ni^w Tes- 
t<menl, 436 

Pope receives the Sacrament sit- 
ting, 330 

Postils, Sermons formerly so call- 
ed, and why, 293 

Prayers*, not to be repeated by the 
people aloud, 129. Why divid- 
ed into short Collects, 163. Ks 
sential to Confirmation, 422 

Preceding marriage,an impediment 
to marriage, 436 

presbyters were never invested 
with the power of ordination, 
100. The same persons called 
both Presbyters and Bishop- in 
the New Testament, 101 

Primer of King Henry VIll. sonte 
account of it, 26 

PhiscA, Roman Virgin and Mar- 
tyr ; some account of her, 60 

Processions, what sort of them al- 
lowed in England, 249 

psalms used by ihe Apostles and 
primitive Christians, 9, 134. 
Why they follow the Confessioa 
and Absolution, ifcc. ibid. Why 
used oftener than any other part 
of Scripture, ib. Whether all 
. the members in a mixed congre- 
gation may properly use some 
expressions in the Psalms, 135. 
Why sung or said by course, 136. 
By whom first set to music, 137. 
Why to" he rcpc^ated standing, 
138. The cou se observed lu 
reading them, 139 To be us- 
ed alter the translation in tl e 
cid Bible, 1 40. VV"! ich the pro- 
per pi ace for sinjiing Fsalnis, 16r 

Puitiicaiion of what th ngs to be 
made m churches, and by whom, 

2U2 



Purgatorial Fire, bow far beld by 
some ancienl lathers., 303 

Purification, the feast of it, 2t)4. 
\\ liy caiiCd Cttudlemas-day, ib. 



Q. 



QUINQUAGESIM A Sunday, See 
Septuagesima. 



READING Pews or Desks, the 
original of them, 1 12. To have 
two Desks, i47 

Real Presence in the Sacrament, 
the notion, of it explained S50 

Remiuius, Bishop of Rhemes ; 
some account ot him, 76 

Responds, what they were, 14G 

Responses, the design of them, 130 

Revelation (the book of) why not 
read for lessons, 145 

Richard, Bishop of Chicester ; 
some account of him, 64 

Ring in marriage, the remains of 
the old coemption, 450. Why 
made use of rather than any- 
thing else, 451. Why a gold 
one, ib. What intimated by its 
roundness, 451. The use of it 
ancient and universal, ib. Why- 
laid npon the book, ib. Why 
put u}»on the fourth finger of the 
woman's left hand, 453. The 
words at the deli\ery of it ex- 
plained at large, ib. ike. 

Rochette, what habit so called, 
108. Ttie antiquity and use of 
it, ibid. 

Rogation-days, when first observ- 
ed, !248. 1 he design of their 
institution, ib. W hy continued 
at the iielormation, 249. De- 
ferred by the Spaniards till .ifter 
Whiisuuiide aid why. 244 

Roiuish saints. ."See baints-davs. 

Kostniary, wl)\ given at Funerals. 

514 

Royal Family, the prayer for them, 



THE INDEX. 



when first added to our Liturgy, 

1(58 
Rule for finding Easter. fc>ee 
Easter. 



S. 



SACRAMENT, to be received 

kneeling. See Kneeling. 
Sacrifices (Jewish) why offered at 
the third and ninth hours, 83 
Saints-days how observed in the 
primitive Church, 198. How 
observed by the Church of Eng- 
land, 199. The days of Saints' 
Deaths, why called their Birth- 
days, ibid. 
— Romish, 58, &c. 
Salt, Milk, and Honey, why given 
formerly to the new baptized, 
352. Why discontinued, 353 
Saturday, why the Jewish Sabbath, 
196. VV hy and how ob«*erved 
by the Eiistern Christians, 196 
Schismatics, not to be admitted to 
the Communion, 280 
Self-Murderers, not capable of 
Chris.ian burial, 511. Whether 
those that kill themselves in dis- 
traction are excluded by the ru- 
bric, ibid. 
Sermon, the antiquity and design 
of it. 29^. Anciently performed 
by the Bishop, ib, Why called 
Postil, 293 
Septuagesima, Seitagesima, and 
Q,uinquagesima Sundays, why so 
Called, 228. The design of them, 
and how observed formerly, 229. 
'1 heir services, ibid. 
Shrove-Tuesday, why go called, 

230 

Sick. See Visiting of the Sick. 

Silvester, Bishop of Rome ; some 

account of him, 81 

Singin;; Psalms, which the proper 

place for them, 167 

Sitting at the Sacrament practised 

by the Pope and the Dirsenters, 

330, l^y whom first in trod uc- 

ed, 331 



Solitary Masses or Communions, 
not allowed of by the Church of 
England, 343 

Song of rolomon, why not read for 
lessons, 142 

Spousage, what are the proper to- 
kens of it, 450 
St. Stephen, St. John, and Inno- 
cents, their days, the antiquity 
of them, 222. Why observed 
immediately after Christmas- 
d vy, and in the order they are 
placed, ib. Their service ex* 
plained, 223 
Strangers from other parishes not 
to be admitted to the Commu- 
nion, 280 
Sudden Death, why we pray a- 
gainstit, 1^9 
Sund.y, why observed by the 
Christians, 195 
Sunday Letter, perpetual Table to 
find it by, 55. See Cycle of the 
Sun. 
Surplice, why so called, 104, The 
antiquity, lawfulness, anddecen- 
cv of it, ibid. Why white, 105. 
Why made of linen, ib. The 
shape of it, and why made loose, 
106. Objections against it an- 
swered, ibid. 
St SwiTHUv, Bishop of Winches^ 
ter; his translation, 70 
Symbolum, the Creed, why so 
called, 154 
Synoduls, what they were, 146 



T. 



TABLES, Rules, and Calendar, 
39. Tables for finding Easter, 

42. The Bishops of Alexandria 
first appointed to give notice of 
Easter-day to other churches, 

43. Cycles afterwards drawn 
up, ib. The Cycle of eighty 
four years, ib. The Cycle of 
five hundred and thirty-two 
years, or Victorian Period, 44. 
The last Cycle established bj 
Church, 45. And afterwards 



THE INDEX. 



adapted td the calendar, ib. 
Which was the occasion of plac- 
ing the Golden Numbers and 
Dominical Letters in the calen- 
dar, ibid. See Easter. 

Thanksg-iving, the grent duty of 
it, 194. i he forms when, and 
upon what account they were 
added, " il)id. 

A large Thanksgiving always used 
at the celebration of the Commu- 
nion in the primitive Church, 
S13. Thanksgivmg of Women 
after Child- birth, why placed af- 
ter the office for the iJurial of 
the Dead, 535. The original 
and reasonableness of it, ib. The , 
time when they must do it, 537. 
The place for doing it, ib. To 
perform this office in private 
houses very alssurd, 538. The 
woman to be decently apparell- 
ed, 539. In what part of the 
church she is to kneel, ib. In 
what part of the service she is 
to be churched. 541. The wo- 
man formerly to offer her Chri- 
som. 543. What the accustom- 
ed oiFeriftf^s are now, 544 ^ he 
woman to receive the Commu- 
nion if there be one, 545 

St. TnoMAS, why commemorated 
immediately before Christmas, 

264 

'J'imes, the necessity of setting a- 
part set times for the perform- 
ance of divine worship, 83. See 
Hours. 

Transtiguration of our Lord, what 
day so called, 72 

Trine Immersion f.rmerly used in 
baptism, 380. Why discontin- 
ned. ibid. 

ffrinity Sunday, why not of very 
early date, 256. Why observed 
the Sunday i»l'ter Whitsunday, 
257. The service for it, 258 

^ Sundays after, the Collects, 

Epistles, and Gospels, 259 

yunicle, ap account of it, 109 



Thanksgiving for the fruits of the 
earth, 569 

V. 

VALENTINE, Bishop and Mar- 
tyr ; some account of him, 61 
The original of choosing Valen- 
tines, 62 

Veils used formerly by women 
when they were churched, 539 

Venite Kxultumus, why used just 
before the Psalms, 133 

Verses, what they were, 146 

Viessels used in private baptism to 

hold the water, how to be dis- 

*p6<:ed of^ 396 

Vestments. , See Cope. 

Victorian Period, 44 

ViNCENT, Deacon of Spain, and 
M arty r ; some account of him,6 1 

Vigils, why so called, 203. See 
Eves. 

Violent Hands. See Self-Mur- 
deres. 

Visitation of the blessed Virgin, 
what day so called, 69 

~ — f of the Sick, why the office 
for it is placed next to that of 
Matrimony, 463 

Visiting of the Sick, a du<y incum- 
bent upon all, 463. Especially 
upon the Clergy, ib Whom the 
Sick ar** to send for, ib. And at 
the beginning of their sickness, 
464. Who are to go without de- 
lay, ib. Whether the Minister 
be confined to i\\e order in the 
Common Prayer Book, ibid. 

Unction in Baptism prescribed by 
the first bo=»k of King Edward 
VI. 382. Whether it belonged 
to Baptism or Confirmation, ib. 
How thev were distinguished in 
the primitive Church, ibid. 

in Confirmation,primitive and 

catholic, 423 

of the Sick, prescribed by the 

first book of King Edward VI. 
485. Used by the Apostles in 
order to healing, 487. Why and 



THE INDEX. 



in what sense prescribed by St. 
James, 488. How used by the 
primitive Church, 490. How 
by the ancient Church. 491. 
How abused by the Church of 
of Rome, ib. How far counte- 
nanced by the Reformation, 492 
Vow in Baptism, very primitive, 

371 
W. 

WAFRR-BREAD used formerly 
in the Eucharist, and why, 344, 
Enjoined by Queen Elisabeth, 
345. And allowed by the Scotch 
Liturgy. ibid. 

Wakes in country passages, the 
original of them, 93 

Washmg with Water, used by all 
nations as a symbol of purifica- 
tion, 351 . How it typifies a new 
Mrth, ibid. 



Water mixed with the Eucharisti- 
cal Wine by the primitive Chris- 
tians, 299. Not essential to the 
Sacrament, ibid. 

Water used in private baptisms, 
how to be disposed of, 396 

White Garments given anciently to 
the new baptized, 245. For 
what reason, 352. See Chrisom. 

Whit-Sunday, how anciently ob- 
served, 251. Why so called, 252. 
The service for it, 253, 254. 
Why a prescribed time for com- 
municating, 337 

Whitsun-Week, how observed for- 
merly, 254 

Who alone workest^reat marvels, 
what meant by that expression, 

169 
Y. 

YEAR Lunar, how computed, 4v^ 



FINIS. 



'"a. 



LRBAp'26 



